From Rwanda to wave machines, successive governments have tried, and failed, to deter people crossing from France
‘You don’t see many locals at anti-migrant protests’: Kent residents work for community cohesion
Many schemes to stop small boat crossings in the Channel have been considered by UK governments in recent years, from the Rwanda policy to “wave-machines”. Here are four of them.
In April 2022 the Conservative government set out plans to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed, with costs including an initial payment of £120m. The first flight in June, which is believed to have had seven people onboard, was cancelled minutes before takeoff, after the European court of human rights in Strasbourg issued last-minute injunctions to stop it.
In November 2023, the supreme court ruled the Rwanda policy was unlawful because there had not been a proper assessment of whether the country was safe. Britain and Rwanda signed a new treaty on asylum and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 subsequently declared Rwanda a safe country.
