BORIS Johnson says the Rwanda deportation scheme should be brought back IMMEDIATELY to help thwart the small boats Channel crisis.
The former Prime Minister said it was time for the government to “swallow its pride” and send asylum seekers to the African country as a deterrent.
Ray CollinsBoris Johnson says the government must bring back the Rwanda plan to tackle the small boats crisis[/caption]
GettySmall boats crossing the Channel (stock picture)[/caption]
He also says that it’s time to quit the European Convention on Human Rights but admits it won’t make much difference to numbers.
Mr Johnson made the intervention during an interview on Harry Cole Saves The West broadcast this evening on YouTube.
Watch Harry Cole’s interview with Boris Johnson on his YouTube channel here…
His warning to Sir Keir Starmer comes as more than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel so far this year.
A “one-in, one-out” scheme signed with France has so far only returned a handful of migrants back across the Channel.
Mr Johnson introduced the £120 million Rwanda scheme when he led the country back in 2022 saying it would stop vile smugglers and their business model.
In an exclusive interview, he said: “I think the government today should swallow its pride and get Rwanda done.
He added: “What we what we have at the moment is a failure to control illegal immigration well.
“And that is, in fact, but actually, thanks to to Brexit, we can do that because if you look at, if you look at the cross channel, the people coming across in the dinghy, in the boats, that’s the thing that really drives the public nuts, and drives me nuts.
“We have a solution to that, and it’s the Rwanda solution, and it’s and it’s painful, Harry, it’s painful to see people now copying our idea, yeah, Americans, Italians.
“And what the this appalling Labour government should be doing is, instead of going off to Albania and being humiliated by Edi Rama, I was there, you know, asking, begging, Edi Rama, begging the Albanians for a Rwanda solution.
“We should do the Rwanda scheme. That is the way to fix illegal that’s the way to fix the illegal cross channel migration.”
Former PM Rishi Sunak vowed to get flights off the ground to Rwanda but the policy was abandoned by Sir Keir Starmer when he entered office.
The ex-PM also calls for Sir Keir to follow Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s plan to leave the European Convention of Human Rights.
Asylum seekers have been using the convention to avoid deportation. The government is currently having a review of the ECHR to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel.
Mr Johnson said: “They should be getting out of the ECHR that actually doesn’t make much difference to to the to the small boats problem.”
Last year, Mr Johnson called for a referendum on British membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is set to make a major announcement on the issue at the Tory party conference at the beginning of next month.
Ray CollinsThe Sun’s Harry Cole with Boris Johnson who says the UK should leave the European Convention on Human Rights[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
