This content was published on July 24, 2022 – 11:57
London, Jul 24 (EFE) .- Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates to succeed Boris Johnson as head of the British Government, presented this Sunday their plans to address immigration, with many points in common and the shared idea of tighten the asylum system.
Having exposed their differences on fiscal policy in the early days of the Conservative primary campaign, Truss and Sunak today pledged to go further in Johnson’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Foreign Minister assured in an interview with the Sunday newspaper “The Mail on Sunday” that she will increase the number of border guard personnel by 20% and that she will reach new agreements with third countries, similar to the one that the United Kingdom already has with Rwanda, to deport asylum seekers who have entered clandestinely.
“The Rwanda policy is the right one. I am determined to fully implement it, as well as explore other countries with whom we can work in similar partnerships,” Truss said.
The first flight with asylum seekers in the direction of Rwanda was suspended by the British Justice, after the European Court of Human Rights ordered the precautionary cancellation of the deportations. The British High Court will examine the legality of this plan in September.
A week ago, the newspaper “The Times” revealed that among the countries that Truss was considering to expand the program started with Rwanda were Spain and Turkey.
The Rwandan government has recognized that for now it only has the capacity to house 200 immigrants from the United Kingdom, an agreement for which they have already received 120 million pounds (141 million euros).
Sunak also announced today that he supports the deportation program to Rwanda and added, in a ten-point plan, his intention to establish a quota for the number of refugees that the United Kingdom can accept annually.
“Law-abiding citizens are appalled when they see boat after boat full of illegal immigrants arriving from a safe country like France, with our sailors and coastguard powerless to stop them,” Sunak said.
Among his proposals, the former Minister of the Economy calls for “making France responsible with detained boat targets” or “ending the hotel farce”, referring to the hotel accommodation of asylum seekers while their application is examined.
Sunak also proposes conditioning foreign policy agreements with other countries to their “willingness to cooperate for the return” of their clandestine immigrants.
Both candidates will be able to confront their ideas in the debate televised by the BBC that they will hold on Monday night.
The militants of the Conservative Party will be able to vote throughout August to elect Johnson’s successor at the head of the “tories”, who will automatically become prime minister, and whose name will be known on September 5. EFE
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