South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Front (EFF) has described the controversial asylum deal between Rwanda and the United Kingdom as an “immoral slave trade arrangement in exchange for millions of pounds.”
The accord signed between Kigali and London would subject all men entering the UK from other countries to forceful deportation to Rwanda until the situation improved in their respective countries, UK Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said.
The move was intended to tackle people-smuggling rings and to fix their broken asylum system, according to Patel
In a statement on Monday, the EFF urged the Rwandan government to pull out of the deal with Britain because it was morally wrong and London should be left alone to solve it.
However, EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said the deal was unacceptable because “the Rwandan government has forcefully entered into this immoral slave trade arrangement in exchange for millions of pounds.”
“The EFF calls on the Rwandan government to cancel the agreement with the UK and allow the former colonial masters to address the question of immigration on their own,” Mathys said.
The plan, which has drawn widespread criticism worldwide, was also condemned by the head of the Anglian Church in Britain, who described the deal as shifting responsibility to Rwanda, a poor country which was incapable of upholding human rights.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, however, said the accord was aimed at breaking people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants across the English Channel from France.
Concerns over immigration were a big factor in the 2016 Brexit vote, and Johnson has been under pressure to deliver on his promise to “take back control” of Britain’s borders.
NM/jn/APA