• The Government has secured a new migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda, so that those who make dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK will be relocated to have their asylum claims processed there.
• The Military will take operational command of small boats in the Channel to stop dangerous crossings and a new asylum accommodation centre will be established in Linton-on-Ouse – helping to end the use of expensive hotels that cost over £4.7 million per day.
• Building on the Nationality and Borders Bill, the Conservative Government will fix the broken asylum system and break the cruel business model of vile people smugglers.

Matt Warman welcomes the Conservative Government’s new migration and economic development partnership announced today.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed a world-first partnership with Rwanda, which will see asylum seekers who come to the UK illegal via dangerous Channel crossings relocated to Rwanda.

Rwanda is a fast growing economy that is recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants – those who submit asylum claims will have their claims processed in Rwanda and will be supported to build a new and prosperous life there.

The new agreement will provide funding to support operations, accommodation and integration, similar to the costs incurred in the UK – helping Rwanda to process asylum claims. The number of people who can be relocated is unlimited and they will have support and care as their claims are considered and a comprehensive integration package for those in need of protection. The Conservative Government is investing an initial £120 million into the economic development of Rwanda as part of their partnership to support Rwanda’s Vision 2050 national strategy.

Since 2015 Conservative Governments have offered a place to over 185,000 men, women, and children seeking refuge. This includes 100,000 British Nationals Overseas from Hong Kong, 20,000 people through the Syrian resettlement scheme, 13,000 people from Afghanistan, and around 50,000 Ukrainians – with no cap on the number eligible to come.

 Operational command over small boats crossings in the English Channel will now be held by the Ministry of Defence, supported with £50 million of new funding for new boats, aerial surveillance, and military personnel. This builds on the existing taskforce of patrol vessels, Wildcat helicopters, search and rescue aircraft, drones and remotely piloted aircraft.

The Conservative Government are also setting up a new asylum accommodation centre in Linton-on-Ouse. Currently the broken asylum system costs over £1.5 billion per year and over £4.7 million per day in hotel expenses alone.

The Nationality and Borders Bill will fix the broken asylum system by allowing the Government for the first time to distinguish between people coming here legally and illegally and for this distinction to affect their status in the UK – breaking the cruel business model of vile people smugglers.

Commenting, Matt Warman said:

 “This Conservative Government has done more than any other UK Government to resettle vulnerable people – but only by controlling illegal migration can we protect our capacity to expand that generosity and properly support people to rebuild their lives.

“That is why I welcome the UK’s new migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda – a fast growing economy that is recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants, while we are providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes.

“It is this Conservative Government that is delivering on the several votes of the British people to control our borders – not to close them.”

Commenting, Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions.  There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.

“Today I have signed a world leading migration partnership with Rwanda which can see those arriving illegally into the UK by dangerous methods relocated to Rwanda to have their claims for asylum considered and, if recognised as refugees, to build their lives there – helping break the people smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life.

“I am delivering the first comprehensive overhaul of the asylum system in decades. At the heart of this approach is fairness so that access to the UK asylum system based on need, not ability to pay people smugglers. The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough.

“That’s why I am overhauling this broken system, we will continue to support those directly fleeing oppression, persecution and tyranny through safe and legal routes, while deterring illegal entry to the UK and making it easier to remove those from the UK who have no right to be here.”