Half of Brits back Government’s plans to deport migrants to Rwanda but most don’t believe it will work, new poll shows
- The £120m Rwanda asylum scheme was announced exactly a year ago today
Almost half of Britons still support the Government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda – although most don’t believe it will end the Channel migrant crisis.
It was exactly a year ago today that the £120million Rwanda scheme was announced by then home secretary Priti Patel.
Under the proposals, any adult who enters Britain illegally could be sent on a one-way ticket to the African country to have their asylum claim processed.
But, over the past 12 months, no migrants have been sent to Rwanda from the UK as the Government battles legal challenges against the policy.
A poll by the More In Common think tank, carried out between April 6 to 11, found that 46 per cent of people still support the Rwanda scheme.
A poll by the More In Common think tank, carried out between April 6 to 11, found that 46 per cent of people still support the Rwanda scheme
The Government has repeatedly hailed the Rwanda scheme as a means of providing a deterrent to migrants planning to cross the Channel on small boats
It was exactly a year ago today that the £120million Rwanda scheme was announced by then home secretary Priti Patel.
This compared to 28 per cent who oppose it and 27 per cent who said they were apathetic or had not made up their mind.
In June last year, 44 per cent said they supported the plans versus 40 per cent who opposed it.
The Government has repeatedly hailed the Rwanda scheme as a means of providing a deterrent to migrants planning to cross the Channel on small boats.
Rishi Sunak, who has vowed to press ahead with the Rwanda plans, has promised to ‘stop the boats’ as one of his main immediate priorities as Prime Minister.
But results of this week’s More In Common poll, published by The Times, showed almost half (48 per cent) believed the policy would not make a difference to the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.
A further 3 per cent said it would lead to more migrants entering the UK illegally.
This compared to only a third (34 per cent) who thought the Rwanda scheme would reduce the number of Channel mmigrant crossings, while 14 per cent said they didi not know whether the plan would work.
Almost half (48 per cent) believed the Rwanda policy would not make a difference to the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats
Mr Sunak has also promised to reduce the current £6million-a-day bill to British taxpayers for asylum seekers staying in hotels.
This has seen the Government announce plans to establish new migrant accommodation on surplus military sites in Lincolnshire and Essex, an old prison in East Sussex, and a barge in Dorset.
The More In Common poll found a third of people (36 per cent) support the proposal to house asylum seekers on a 506-capacity barge in Portland Port, compared to 21 per cent who oppose it.
In an interview with the ConservativeHome website yesterday, Mr Sunak failed to commit to fulfilling his promise to ‘stop the boats’ by the time of the next general election.
The PM admitted his aim of preventing migrants from crossing the Channel in dinghies ‘won’t happen overnight’.
He said: ‘I’ve always said this is not something that is easy – it is a complicated problem where there’s no single, simple solution that will fix it.’
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