Tory attempts to halt the flow of Channel migrants by threatening to send them to Rwanda have flopped, MPs say today.
The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee blasted “radical quick-fix solutions” to the crisis, warning they “will fail to stop Channel crossings”.
The scathing verdict is a fresh blow to lame duck Prime Minister Boris Johnson and under-fire Home Secretary Priti Patel, who pioneered a deal with the African nation to accept migrants who succeeded in making the perilous journey across the Dover Strait to Britain.
“The committee finds that the asylum agreement with Rwanda so far shows no evidence of being the deterrent it is intended to be,” the committee said.
“Crossings in small boats continue to rise significantly - 28,5000 people arrived in the UK in 2021 and 14,000 have come so far in 2022, with the total expected to be 60,000 by the end of the year.”
In a 59-page report published today, MPs warned that “efforts by the Government to find a single, low-cost, solution to close off this route of entry are unrealistic and will not succeed”.
The committee said: “Threats of being put on a flight to Rwanda with no chance of return to the UK have so far failed to stop people making the extremely dangerous journey across the Channel.
“Their motivations, and their understanding of what will happen when they arrive in the UK, are also poorly understood and insufficient to inform good policy.
“An effective deterrent would need to prevent small boats from ever leaving France.”
Attempts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda on a flight from a military airfield in Wiltshire last month(JUN) failed after legal rulings minutes before the plane was due to take off.
The Government has insisted it will schedule more flights.
A High Court judicial review hearing into the deportation plan has been delayed until the autumn.
Committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: “It is clear that the asylum system is broken, but it is not those making Channel crossings who broke it.
“Policy development in this area has moved away from evidence-based, tested and cost-effective solutions reacting to the changing demands placed on it.
“Instead, we have a search for radical new policies that might make good headlines but do little to stem the flow of people prepared to put their lives at risk to reach the UK by any means necessary.”
Sympathising with desperate migrants who pay people smugglers thousands of pounds before boarding flimsy inflatables on French beaches to attempt the dangerous voyages to UK shores, the senior Labour MP added: “The failure to ensure safe routes are available to all those who would have a rightful asylum claim leaves people little choice but to use drastic measures to get here.
“Despite much sabre-rattling that people should claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive in, the Government has made slow progress in setting up deals with international partners to facilitate returns.
“Its deterrent policy of sending asylum applicants to Rwanda appears to have gone unnoticed by those who attempt to cross the Channel.”
All five remaining candidates in the Conservative leadership race for No10 have vowed to maintain the controversial policy of sending Channel migrants to Rwanda.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon urged the next PM to "immediately rethink and focus on the workable alternatives that are - contrary to rhetoric - readily available."
A Home Office spokesman said: "There is no one silver bullet to tackle the global migration crisis the world is facing but we must do everything we can to fix the broken asylum system in the UK.
“Our New Plan for Immigration will bring in the biggest package of reforms in decades, allowing us to support those in genuine need while preventing illegal and dangerous journeys into the UK and breaking the business model of vile people smugglers.
“Through our world-leading Migration Partnership, migrants who make these unnecessary journeys to the UK may be relocated to Rwanda to have their claims considered and rebuild their lives."
