LONDON, July 24 Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates to succeed Boris Johnson at the helm of the British government, presented their plans on Sunday to tackle immigration, with many common points and a common idea of tightening the asylum system.
After exposing their differences over fiscal policy in the early days of the Conservative primary campaign, Truss and Snack today vowed to press on with Johnson’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday newspaper, the Foreign Secretary confirmed that she would increase the number of border guards by 20% and that she would reach new agreements with third countries, similar to what the United Kingdom had already done. With Rwanda, to deport asylum seekers who have entered clandestinely.
“Rwanda’s policy is the right policy. I am determined to implement it fully, as well as explore other countries with which we can work in similar partnerships,” Truss said.
A British court has halted the first flight with asylum seekers to Rwanda, after the European Court of Human Rights ordered the provisional cancellation of the deportations. The British High Court will consider the legality of this plan in September.
And the newspaper “The Times” revealed a week ago that among the countries that Truss was considering expanding the program he had started with Rwanda were Spain and Turkey.
The Rwandan government has realized that at the moment it only has the capacity to house 200 immigrants from the UK, an agreement for which they have already received 120 million pounds (141 million euros).
Sunak also announced today that he supports the repatriation program to Rwanda and added, in a ten-point plan, his intention to set a quota for the number of refugees the UK can accept annually.
“Law-abiding citizens are horrified when they see boat after boat full of illegal immigrants coming from a safe country like France, where seafarers and coast guards can’t stop them,” Sunak said.
Among his proposals, the former economy minister called for “holding France responsible for the targets of the detained boats” or “ending the farce of the hotel,” referring to the hotel accommodation of asylum seekers while their applications are examined.
Sunak also suggested linking foreign policy agreements with other countries to their “willingness to cooperate for the return” of their clandestine immigrants.
The two candidates will be able to confront their ideas in the debate to be held by the BBC on Monday evening.
Conservative Party fighters will be able to vote throughout August to elect Johnson’s successor at the head of the Conservatives, who will automatically become prime minister, whose name will be known on September 5. EFE
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