By Brian Okoth
Britain says it is incurring huge expenses in accommodating thousands of people seeking asylum in the country.
Over the years, small boats have been carrying refuge seekers into Britain through the English Channel.
According to the British government, the country spends about $3.8 billion every year on asylum seekers' expenses.
The daily cost of housing them in hotels and their food expenses is $7.6 million, a cost that the government says is too high.
Britain allows application for asylum, a form of protection that enables one to remain in the country without being deported.
Physical presence
Under the British law, a person must be physically present in the European country to qualify for asylum, and must have left their home nation and be unable to go back because they fear persecution.
Britain hopes to reduce the number of asylum seekers to below 100,000 every year. In 2022 alone, there were 606,000 net immigrations, the government said.
Faced with a high number of refuge seekers, Britain under the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a deal with Rwanda in April 2022 to send the asylum seekers to the East African nation.
Under the deal, some people, whose asylum applications had been rejected by the UK, were to be flown to Rwanda.
Automatic rejection
According to Britain, most asylum applications are automatically rejected if an applicant passes through a "safe third country" before continuing with their journey to the United Kingdom.
That would mean that the asylum seekers transferred to Rwanda would not be eligible to return to the UK, but would settle in the African nation as refugees.
At least 24,000 asylum seekers were to be transferred to Rwanda, with Britain reportedly paying the East African country some $176 million for the transfer in June 2022. Britain was also to pay $15,100 for each extra person taken to Rwanda.
In exchange, Rwanda said it would settle the refugees. A petition challenging Britain's proposed plan was lodged.
Supreme Court's decision
In December 2022, the High Court ruled that the deal was lawful, but the verdict was overturned at the Court of Appeal in June 2023 and the Supreme Court most recently.
On November 15, the country's top court said it was not assured that Rwanda will not transfer asylum seekers to hostile countries.
On December 5, British interior minister James Cleverly travelled to Rwanda and signed a new deal with the African country, saying the new agreement had addressed issues raised by the courts.
Cleverly said there will be a monitoring committee to ensure the asylum seekers' rights are not violated.
Minister resigns
The British parliament has been pushing to change the law to grant a government minister the powers to deport asylum seekers without being restricted by the UK's Human Rights Act or the European Court of Human Rights.
On December 6, Britain's Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick resigned, saying the proposed legislation on Rwanda asylum deal was unlikely to succeed.
It is unlikely that deportation of asylum seekers in the UK could start before an election expected next year.
Britain's opposition, the Labour Party, which is leading in opinion polls, plans to reverse the Rwanda policy if it wins.
➤Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
