Rwanda migrant mess 'could do the most enormous damage to the Government' says Nigel Farage

Rwanda migrant mess 'could do the most enormous damage to the Government' says Nigel Farage
WTF Rwanda
Aden-Jay Wood

By Aden-Jay Wood


Published: 03/05/2022

- 20:36

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:35

The Government acknowledged earlier today that it could be months before any migrants are sent to Rwanda

Issues surrounding the Rwanda immigration scheme could “do the most enormous damage to the Government”, Nigel Farage says.

The Government acknowledged earlier today that it could be months before any migrants to the UK are sent to Rwanda, with legal challenges highlighted as one of the “variables” affecting the plan.


And speaking on GB News’s Farage, Nigel believes that is the “best news” for criminals looking to profit from those making the journey over the Channel.

Nigel said: “It could be a huge disincentive for people to cross the English Channel.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday May 3, 2022.
Crossings of the English Channel reached more than 7,000 so far this year
Gareth Fuller

Nigel Farage believes the delays are the %22best news%22 for migrants
Nigel Farage believes the delays are the "best news" for migrants
GB News

“But today we learned from the Government that actually it isn’t going to be before the end of May, that action happens.

“We were told the first flights would happen before the end of this month.

“We learned today that there are now at least six legal challenges against the Government, at least six we know of.

He added: “And that means deportations to Rwanda will be delayed by several months and that is probably the best news the criminal gangs and traffickers have heard over in Calais and Dunkirk and all those places on the northern French coast.

“Because they can say to people ‘come on, get a move on, you’ve got a few months to do this before they implement it’, the window has got bigger and that as we go into warmer weather and settled seas.

“This threatens to do the most enormous damage to the Government.

“Remember there are one million people on social housing waiting lists in this country.”

His comments come after crossings of the English Channel reached more than 7,000 so far this year.

And the Prime Minister's spokesman said it’s “too early to judge” if the Rwanda scheme will work.

“It’s too early to judge what the situation will be long-term on this policy. You will know – as we’ve seen – migrant crossings continue, criminal gangs continue to profit. This is unsustainable.”

Asked when the success or otherwise of the plan could be judged, the spokesman said: “I don’t think there’s a fixed date … obviously, there are a number of variables we need to deal with, not least some of the legal challenges which have been talked about.”

The spokesman was unable to say when the first flight would be: “We have received pre-action correspondence from a number of legal firms, I can’t get into that more … but we still maintain our hope to have the first flights take place in a matter of months.”

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