Britain dispatches first voluntary asylum seeker to Rwanda under voluntary system
The British government has sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary system, with the unnamed migrant being flown out of the country on Monday, according to the Sun newspaper.
The voluntary approach is different from a coercive deportation program that Britain plans to launch in the coming months to prevent asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats to reside in Britain.
In the new plan, the government has said it would pay asylum seekers up to 3,000 pounds each to move to Rwanda.
This is expected to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the country in recent years.
Since 2018, tens of thousands of people have arrived in Britain using small boats, many fleeing conflict or poverty and traveling across Europe.
In response, the government has spent two years trying to get past its legal and political objections to the policy of sending asylum applicants to Rwanda.
Parliament eventually passed the controversial legislation last week, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak predicted that the first flights will take off in 10 to 12 weeks.
Meanwhile, activists have expressed worries about the East African country’s poor human rights record as well as the chance that asylum seekers will be returned to face dangerous uncertainties.
