TheCable

Priti Patel, UK home secretary, has hit back at critics of the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, had announced the decision last Wednesday, arguing that the action is needed to stop illegal migration and to prevent “vile people smugglers” turning the ocean into a “watery graveyard”.

The announcement has drawn criticism from various groups and individuals, with many calling on the prime minister to scrap the plan.

One of those who criticised the plan was Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury who said on Sunday the UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing raises “serious ethical questions”.

He also said the UK government was “subcontracting” its responsibilities.

But writing in the Times with Vincent Biruta, Rwandan foreign minister, Patel said they had proposed an innovative solution to the “deadly trade” of people smuggling, adding that no humanitarian nation would allow that suffering to continue.

Patel and Biruta said the global asylum system was collapsing under the strain of humanitarian crises and that their plan to transport some asylum seekers who unlawfully enter the UK to Rwanda, will allow people fleeing persecution to find safety.

“We are taking bold and innovative steps and it’s surprising that those institutions that criticise the plans fail to offer their own solutions,” they wrote.

“Allowing this suffering to continue is no longer an option for any humanitarian nation.”

They added that the UK’s £120m investment in Rwanda would help to address the lack of opportunities that drive economic migration.