“No one who enters the UK illegally can stay here. Instead, you will be detained and quickly returned either to your country of origin or to a safe country where your asylum application will be examined.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said during his parliamentary address. The United Kingdom announced on Tuesday that it plans to introduce new legislation aimed at preventing migrants crossing the English Channel from staying and curbing illegal immigration.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK via the English Channel has doubled in the past two years. Government figures show that most of them are ethnic Albanians, arriving via this route.
The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced a new five-point plan to deal with illegal immigration, which, among other things, plans to speed up the return of Albanian asylum seekers and – by doubling the number of administrators – to take stock of the nearly 150,000 backlog of asylum applications. By the end of next year – Reuters news agency reported.
Expensive hotel accommodation and an unresolved immigration crisis
He wrote about it in an October article from the news portal Remix Newsthat the influx of immigrants imposes a serious financial burden on the British state, because due to the lack of social housing, the Home Office spends 6.8 million pounds sterling (about HUF 3.25 billion) per day on housing future asylum-seekers and Afghan citizens in hotels.
“No one who enters the UK illegally can stay here. Instead, you will be detained and quickly returned either to your country of origin or to a safe country where your asylum application will be examined.“
said Rishi Sunak during his parliamentary address.
Emphasizing that a new unit would be set up to deal with crossings on the canal, the prime minister also touched on the fact that in the future, instead of hotels, it is planned to house immigrants in abandoned holiday parks, housing for former students and redundancies. military sites.
The news agency quoted the prime minister as saying that thousands of Albanians could be deported in the coming months.
Asylum as a legal loophole
Successive British governments have promised to prevent migrants from arriving by boat, but this year is a record 44,867 migrants crossed the English Channelto reach the United Kingdom.
In the 2016 referendum, one of the “motivators” for those who voted for Brexit was concern about the level of immigration. Reuters recalled that these voters want Britain to “take back control” of its borders.
Although the British government previously introduced new legislation making it illegal to knowingly enter the UK without permission, immigrants have found ways to circumvent the law. They apply for asylum, so that they can be exempted from criminal proceedings for their illegal entryeven if their request is based on false pretenses.
According to the prime minister, public opinionHe could be really angryBecause the current system is unfair to those seeking asylum.
The news portal Remix News also noted this, that the majority of asylum seekers who arrive illegally through the channels come from safe countries. This year, for example, 12,000 immigrants arrived from Albania, 10,000 of them single men.
Flights to Rwanda can resume
The British government announced this year that it plans to deport migrants to Rwanda, among other efforts, in hopes of serving as a deterrent to those arriving across the English Channel.
Human rights groups and trade unions challenged the measure in London’s High Court in early September. The organizations believe that Rwandan politics is impractical and immoral. According to Reuters, a decision in this regard is expected on Monday.
In addition, Rishi Sunak mentioned that the government is planning to resume flights to Rwanda,
He added, Parliament is expected to set quotas for the number of people who can be admitted on humanitarian grounds.
Featured Image: Illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel from France arrive in Dover, southeast England, aboard the British Border Patrol ship that took them by boat on July 22, 2021. (Photo: MTI/EPA/Vickie Flores)
