Minister says UK is 'overwhelmed' by small boats and Rwanda deterrent will allow more 'targeted' refugee schemes
28 April 2024, 9:32 | Updated: 28 April 2024, 9:46
A government minister has said the UK is currently "overwhelmed" by the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats and claimed the Rwanda deterrent will allow for more "targeted" refugee schemes.
Chris Philp told LBC's Matthew Wright said that migrants were arriving via the small boats route "at a level… which we simply can’t accommodate".
The policing minister was speaking after the Rwanda scheme to send asylum seekers to the East African country was finally passed earlier this week.
Mr Philp said: "The way it should work and the way the government has said it should work is if we can stop the illegal immigration - people who are leaving a safe country, mostly young men - and instead we can set up resettlement programmes, as we’ve done in the past with Syria, then we can decide - we the government, the British people, the British parliament - can decide who we think we should welcome."
He added that it was "impossible to bring meaningful numbers in" via legal resettlement routes "when we are essentially overwhelmed by illegal immigration."
The minister said that the government was spending "something like £5 or £6 billion pounds a year" to accommodate people coming illegally.
Mr Philp said: "So if we can stop illegal immigration, it will create some capacity to enable organised resettlement programmes at a level that we can accommodate, that doesn’t overwhelm our capacity, and we can target those at people who are most in need."
He told Matthew that the Syrian resettlement scheme "we made sure it was people who most needed help - young families, women and children and so on - that were helped, not just single young men who were paying people smugglers.
"And that is what is happening with the illegal Channel crossings.
"It’s also happening at a level… which we simply can’t accommodate. I think last year it was about 30,000 - we just can’t accommodate those sort of numbers of illegal arrivals, and that is why it is essential that we don’t just reduce the boats by a third, as we’ve done already, but we completely stop the boats."
Mr Philp made comments to an audience earlier this week, in which he asked members of the public whether Rwanda was a different country to Congo.
The government minister was questioned by an audience member about the government's new Rwanda Bill and what this meant for those travelling to the UK from the neighbouring country of Congo.
After comparing Rwanda to the Pacific island of Nauru as part of a discussion with Matthew about the Australian refugee scheme, Mr Philp said he wanted to "avoid any further misunderstanding" about geography.
Meanwhile Rishi Sunak responded to claims the government's Rwanda plan is causing an influx of migrants into Ireland, noting such figures prove the deterrent effect is working.were heading to Ireland instead of the UK.
It comes after Mr Sunak told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips:"My focus is on the United Kingdom and securing our borders.
"But what that comment illustrates is a couple of things," he continued.
"One, that illegal migration is a global challenge, which is why you're seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe will follow where the UK has led.
"But what it also shows, I think, is that the deterrent is, according to your comment, already having an impact because people are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I'm saying.
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"If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won't be able to stay, they're much less likely to come, and that's why the Rwanda scheme is so important."
Downing Street on Friday rebuffed claims the Rwanda plan was already influencing movements into Ireland, saying it was too early to jump to conclusions on its impact.
It comes as Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg was hounded by a group of left-wing protesters waving Palestine and Communist flags and shouting insults at him.
Deputy Irish premier Micheal Martin, who also serves as Ireland's foreign affairs minister, told reporters in Dublin on Friday: "Clearly, we've had an increase in the numbers coming into Northern Ireland into the Republic.
And it's fairly obvious that a Rwanda policy, if you're a person in a given situation in the UK and well, then you don't want to go to Rwanda - not that anybody has gone yet, I hasten to add.
"So I think it's a fair comment of mine. There are many other issues - it's not in any way trying to blame anything or anything like that."
But a No 10 spokeswoman told journalists in Westminster: "It is too early to jump to specific conclusions about the impact of the Act and treaty in terms of migrant behaviour.
"Of course, we will monitor this very closely and we already work very closely as you would expect with the Irish government, including on matters relating to asylum.
"But of course, the intention behind the Act is to have it serve as a deterrent and that is why we are working to get flights off the ground as swiftly as possible."
Mr Sunak this week acknowledged it could still take 10 to 12 weeks to get flights in the air, in a blow to his earlier target of seeing this take place in the "spring" of this year.
Irish ministers earlier this week suggested there had been a rise in the number of migrants crossing the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Justice minister Helen McEntee told a committee of the Irish Parliament the number was now "higher than 80%" crossing from Northern Ireland.