LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to crack down on smuggling routes through the English Channel on Thursday, promising to keep Brexit promises to control Britain’s borders. fly 4,000 miles to Rwanda for processing there. Britain will deploy the Royal Navy to patrol the canal and intercept vessels starting off the French coast, Johnson said. Smugglers convicted of aboard pilots could face life in prison. Under the bill, which requires parliamentary approval, most immigrants crossing the canal illegally will be considered ineligible for asylum in Britain because their travels will have passed through safe countries where they could apply for asylum. Johnson suggested that “tens of thousands” of such migrants could be sent to Rwanda, where they would either apply for asylum or refugee status – or return to their countries of origin. He described the African nation as “one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognized for its history of welcoming and integrating migrants”. Immigration dispute escalates between UK, France over Channel’s deaths British officials have said the policy will be to send all unacceptable adults – men and women – to Rwanda. They said they would not send children or unaccompanied minors, nor would they break up families with children. Those considered to have viable asylum applications can stay in the UK to pursue their cases. “It is striking that about 7 in 10 of those who arrived in small boats last year were men under the age of 40, paying smugglers to jump in the queue and taking on our ability to help genuine refugee women and children,” Johnson said. “This is particularly perverted as those attempting to cross do not immediately escape the impending danger such as the intended purpose of our asylum system,” he said. “They have passed through obviously safe countries, including many in Europe, where they could – and should – have applied for asylum.” British Home Secretary Pretty Patel traveled to Rwanda on Thursday to sign an agreement that includes $ 160 million in aid to the country. The bill, part of a new bill on nationality and borders, must first pass parliament, where Johnson’s Conservative Party holds a large majority. The opposition Labor Party called the proposal “unworkable, immoral and blackmailing”. Defense teams warned that the measures could violate human rights. Johnson acknowledged that there were likely to be legal challenges seeking to prevent the plan from being implemented. He denied that the measures were “draconian or lacking in compassion”. Johnson said it was much worse to let people drown in the canal. He denounced human traffickers for their role. “These miserable smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the canal into a water cemetery, with men, women and children drowning in unsuitable boats and suffocating in refrigerated trucks,” he said. Johnson predicted that plan will soon be adopted as an “international model”. US puts asylum seekers on planes to Guatemala – often without telling them where to go He said he intended to “break the business model” of smuggling gangs, which could generate $ 400,000 for each launch of a non-navigable boat. He said he was sending a message that people crossing illegally “risk ending up not in the UK but in Rwanda”. He described this as a “significant deterrent”. Some migrants are smuggled into Britain in containers, trucks and trains. In 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese – including two boys and eight women – were found in a tractor-trailer refrigerator abandoned by its driver in the south east of England. The canal, which is hit by fast tides and frequent thunderstorms, is also one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. In a single incident in November, at least 27 migrants lost their lives in a transit attempt. More than 28,500 people were arrested last year trying to enter Britain through the canal, up from 8,400 in 2020. About 600 people crossed the border on Wednesday. Johnson warned that thousands a day could make the effort in the coming weeks as the weather warms and the sea calms down. “I accept that these people — whether 600 or 1,000 — are looking for a better life,” he said. “But it is these hopes – these dreams – that have been exploited.” Johnson stressed that the British people were hospitable and generous, but that illegal immigration placed an unsustainable burden on schools, the health care system and the welfare state. “We can not maintain a parallel illegal system,” he said. “Our compassion may be infinite, but our ability to help people is not.”
