New British Prime Minister suspends extradition to Rwanda

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed on Saturday (6) that he would not follow pioneer Rishi Sunak’s policy of deporting asylum seekers arriving in small boats from Britain to Rwanda.

“Rwanda’s project was dead and buried before it started. It was never an obstacle (to small boat crossing),” Starmer said at a press conference.

The project was scheduled to launch on July 24, but the actual launch depends on the outcome of the election. Commenting on the fact that the law had failed to achieve its original goal of reducing the flow of irregular migrants across the English Channel, Starmer said: “I am not prepared to continue with tactics that have no deterrent effect.”

According to the British government, up to the beginning of May this year, over 7,500 migrants have arrived in Britain in small boats this way. The deportation of these migrants is one of the main demands of the Conservative Party.

The plan was originally drawn up by Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister from 2019 to 2022. After his resignation, his successors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak continued to try to get the project approved – which happened in April this year.