MINISTERS are braced for legal challenges over widely criticised plans to send up to tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrive in the UK in unauthorised Channel crossings to Rwanda.
Boris Johnson insisted his scheme to detain and fly migrants more than 4,000 miles to East Africa at the expense of the taxpayer was not “draconian and lacking in compassion.”
But both the Prime Minister and Priti Patel said they were prepared to fight attempts to use the courts to block the plans heavily criticised by refugee charities.
The Northern Echo asked Mouhyedin Alkhalil who runs Falafel Fella in Darlington, how he felt about the Government's announcement.
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He said: “People want to come to the UK because they have a connection to it, either they have family or friends here, or they want to study, work or learn English.
“I hadn’t even heard of Rwanda until this morning! Why send people there? It doesn’t make sense. It’s ridiculous. It’s shocking. Priti Patel’s parents and Rishi Sunak’s parents came to the UK from India, why are they letting this happen?”
After arriving in England from Syria, Mr Alkhalil got help from Darlington Assistance for Refugees (DAR), and was matched with a local couple, Fran and Martin Wood, with whom he moved in.
Within a few months he set up his business and hasn’t looked back.
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Mr Alkhalil said: “DAR (Darlington Assistance for Refugees) improved my life. If it weren’t for them and Fran and Martin, I wouldn’t have what I have today. I have a business and a mortgage, life is good. I like Darlington.
Neither Mr Johnson nor Ms Patel would detail how much the programme will cost, but the Home Secretary has struck a £120 million economic deal with Rwanda and cash for each removal is expected to follow.
Labour accused the Prime Minister of trying to distract from the partygate scandal with the “unworkable, unethical and extortionate” migration scheme.
Charities condemned them as “cruel and nasty” plans that will fail to address the issue and cause more “suffering and chaos”, while criticising Rwanda’s human rights track record.
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The Government’s plans also did not go down very well with Justice First, a charity in Stockton that helps those in the Tees Valley seeking asylum.
Jason Hussein, project manager at Justice First said: “The Government clearly does not have the interests of vulnerable people at heart.
"If the Government cared about human beings, Boris wouldn’t be sending some of the most vulnerable people in a county where they have no connections, where they didn’t intend to go to, where they’ll struggle to integrate, where they’ll be at risk of torture or abuse from a questionable dictatorship.”
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