Sunak: The First Flight of Migrants to Rwanda Will Take Place After the UK Elections

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the UK, announced in an interview on Thursday, May 25, that the first flight for the transfer of 'illegal' migrants to the African country of Rwanda will take place after the elections in that country. The Prime Minister had stated a day earlier in a brief speech to the people that the general elections in the UK will be held on July 4 (Tir 14). In his interview on Thursday with LBC Radio, Mr. Sunak emphasized that this flight would occur after July 4 and mentioned that preparations for implementing this anti-immigration policy have already begun. The UK government sent the first 'voluntary' refugee under this controversial plan to Rwanda in mid-May and announced at that time that it expects to transfer 5,700 migrants to Rwanda this year under this scheme. Tens of thousands of migrants, many of whom have fled wars in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, have recently made their way to the UK shores using small boats organized by human traffickers across the English Channel. Stopping this wave of migration has been a priority for Rishi Sunak's government from the beginning. However, critics argue that the plan to transfer refugees to Rwanda, instead of addressing their asylum requests in the UK, is 'inhumane.' In his interview, Sunak claimed that he is the 'only leader' who will implement the migrant transfer policy and that the Labour Party should not be expected to carry it out. He also claimed that 15 other European countries agree with his government's approach. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, criticized this action a few days after the UK Parliament approved the law for sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, calling it a 'betrayal of European values.'