Migration policy
The EU can copy the British Rwanda plan - if it works
Wolfgang Hansson
This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.
Published 19.09
The obstacles to sending asylum seekers to Rwanda have been removed.
The first boat refugees will be flown from the UK to Kigali within weeks.
While human rights organizations are up in arms, EU leaders will follow the experiment with great interest. They themselves have similar plans.
Quick version
When the Supreme Court unanimously ruled out plans to send refugees to Rwanda, the government enacted a new law that allows anyone who crosses the sea illegally to be flown to Rwanda to have their asylum claims heard there. If they are granted asylum, it gives them the right to stay in Rwanda. Not in the UK.
Critics rage against the plans, which they believe violate the refugee conventions to which Britain is a signatory.
Big questions are also being raised about whether Rwanda can be considered a safe country for refugees.
The British government sees it as a way of discouraging would-be refugees from making the dangerous journey across the English Channel. If they know from the beginning that their journey ends in Rwanda, the number of migrants will decrease.
The experiment, it is difficult to call it anything else, will be followed very closely by the leaders of the EU.
The EU has just adopted a major migration package. It also involves trying to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe, but without sending the asylum seekers to countries outside the EU.
Critics rage against the plans, which they believe violate the refugee conventions to which Britain is a signatory.
Big questions are also being raised about whether Rwanda can be considered a safe country for refugees.
The British government sees it as a way of discouraging would-be refugees from making the dangerous journey across the English Channel. If they know from the beginning that their journey ends in Rwanda, the number of migrants will decrease.
The experiment, it is difficult to call it anything else, will be followed very closely by the leaders of the EU.
The EU has just adopted a major migration package. It also involves trying to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe, but without sending the asylum seekers to countries outside the EU.
Deter migrants
But several countries are already brooding over plans similar to those of the British.
On site in Rwanda, Denmark has examined the possibilities of reaching an agreement similar to the UK's. Italy has signed an agreement with Albania that a large number of those who go to Italy will instead have their applications examined in Albania.
The EU has also held talks with several countries in North Africa about various measures to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe. Since 2016, the EU has been paying Turkey to give more than three million refugees sanctuary and prevent them from reaching Europe.
The EU's basic problem is the same as that of the British. Today, there are no countries in Europe that want to accept refugees in large numbers. Yet they continue to arrive in the hundreds of thousands every year.
The EU, like the British, wants to discourage people from seeking Europe, especially the dangerous boat route across the Mediterranean where several thousand migrants drown every year.
But they have not yet managed to reach an agreement between all 27 countries about outsourcing the asylum process to countries outside Europe. A number of EU countries think it is going too far.
But that does not prevent them from following the British Rwanda project with great interest.
But several countries are already brooding over plans similar to those of the British.
On site in Rwanda, Denmark has examined the possibilities of reaching an agreement similar to the UK's. Italy has signed an agreement with Albania that a large number of those who go to Italy will instead have their applications examined in Albania.
The EU has also held talks with several countries in North Africa about various measures to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe. Since 2016, the EU has been paying Turkey to give more than three million refugees sanctuary and prevent them from reaching Europe.
The EU's basic problem is the same as that of the British. Today, there are no countries in Europe that want to accept refugees in large numbers. Yet they continue to arrive in the hundreds of thousands every year.
The EU, like the British, wants to discourage people from seeking Europe, especially the dangerous boat route across the Mediterranean where several thousand migrants drown every year.
But they have not yet managed to reach an agreement between all 27 countries about outsourcing the asylum process to countries outside Europe. A number of EU countries think it is going too far.
But that does not prevent them from following the British Rwanda project with great interest.
Asylum center for Europe
If it turns out that it works as a deterrent, my tip is that the EU will soon try to enter into contracts with a number of countries in North Africa that can act as asylum centers for Europe.
As with Rwanda, the main carrot will be money and better relations with Europe. The British are paying close to five billion kroner for Rwanda to receive a number of thousands of refugees over five years. The more they receive, the more money.
Those who created the asylum rules after the Second World War that are still in place today did not foresee that the system would develop into a criminal business where refugees and migrants pay large sums of money to be helped to get to attractive countries.
This has resulted in people who are not fleeing because of political persecution, war or famine still wanting to get to Europe for a better life.
The result is a situation where many Europeans feel that there is a controlled immigration where the authorities have no control over who is coming. Which in turn resulted in an immigration-critical electorate in many countries.
A large number of war refugees from Ukraine has not exactly increased the appetite for receiving non-European immigrants.
If it turns out that it works as a deterrent, my tip is that the EU will soon try to enter into contracts with a number of countries in North Africa that can act as asylum centers for Europe.
As with Rwanda, the main carrot will be money and better relations with Europe. The British are paying close to five billion kroner for Rwanda to receive a number of thousands of refugees over five years. The more they receive, the more money.
Those who created the asylum rules after the Second World War that are still in place today did not foresee that the system would develop into a criminal business where refugees and migrants pay large sums of money to be helped to get to attractive countries.
This has resulted in people who are not fleeing because of political persecution, war or famine still wanting to get to Europe for a better life.
The result is a situation where many Europeans feel that there is a controlled immigration where the authorities have no control over who is coming. Which in turn resulted in an immigration-critical electorate in many countries.
A large number of war refugees from Ukraine has not exactly increased the appetite for receiving non-European immigrants.
No chance
The politician in Europe who today goes to the polls on a refugee-friendly policy has no chance. The government that wants to be re-elected must show that they can stop uncontrolled immigration.
It is considered to be the main driving force of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The conservatives are heavily trailing in opinion polls ahead of the elections to be held later this year, probably in October. If Sunak succeeds on the migration issue, it could possibly prevent an otherwise given victory for Labour.
Even in many EU countries, the issue of migration is burning before the EU elections in June. As in the USA before the presidential election this autumn.
But there is no guarantee that the Rwanda track will stop the flow of refugees.
It is considered to be the main driving force of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The conservatives are heavily trailing in opinion polls ahead of the elections to be held later this year, probably in October. If Sunak succeeds on the migration issue, it could possibly prevent an otherwise given victory for Labour.
Even in many EU countries, the issue of migration is burning before the EU elections in June. As in the USA before the presidential election this autumn.
But there is no guarantee that the Rwanda track will stop the flow of refugees.
Men det finns ingen garanti för att Rwandaspåret kommer att få stopp på flyktingströmmen.
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