Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick has slammed Labour for ‘surrendering’ to people smuggling gangs, as he tore into news that Germany may now use the Rwanda accommodation Britain paid for to house its own illegal migrants.
The former immigration minister blasted the news from Germany as “a complete farce”, and said it proved other countries are “more determined” to tackle the issue than Britain’s new left-wing Government.
Yesterday a senior figure in the German asylum system said that his country and the wider EU may now use the bespoke facilities funded by UK taxpayers for its own deportation plans.
Joachim Stamp, Germany’s Special Representative for Migration Agreements, said: “We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda”.
The news was greeted with fury yesterday, with Tory MP Neil O’Brien saying it was “no surprise” and calling Labour’s decision to scrap the plan “mad”.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick said it proved how much of a “farce” Labour’s asylum and immigration policy is.
He warned: “The British government created a scheme in Rwanda which is admired by other countries around the world”.
“Many of our partners – potentially Germany – have looked at that and thought that they might create a version of it in the years ahead.
“This new labour government have scrapped the scheme; instead of strengthening it as I wanted so that it was the most robust deterrent they scrapped it altogether.
“And now the very facilities that we invested in may be taken by countries like Germany who clearly are more determined to tackle this issue than this Labour government.”
He added that Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper “seem as if they want open borders in the UK”.
Mr Jenrick also accused the PM and Home Secretary of having “surrendered to the people smuggling gangs”, describing the move as “breaking the first duty of government which is to keep our borders secure and the public safe”.
In May, the then-Conservative Government welcomed comments by top European leaders suggested they will also pursue the policy of deporting illegal migrants, in the wake of the Government’s trailblazing scheme.
Visiting Austria that month, Chancellor Karl Nehammer heaped praise on the UK for pioneering Rwanda and called on the EU to follow in Britain’s footsteps.
Mr Nehammer told reporters: “Asylum proceedings should happen in safe third countries. The UK is therefore a pioneer for this model – a model that will be important for Europe as well.”
“The Rwanda model will be a solution for us to have asylum proceedings in safe third countries and that’s something we need to put on the EU’s agenda as well.
He also revealed that as many as 15 European states are now allied to Austria in pushing this new model of dealing with asylum seekers, including Denmark, and praised their partnership with the UK.
Mr Nehammer voiced hope that he and the UK will be successful in creating change across Europe, emphatically announcing Austria “supports the British path and British model”, adding that it is not just “important” but “essential”.
Ahead of the European elections, the ultimate victor Ursula von der Leyen championed a policy of seeking third-country investment and migration deals with African countries like Tunisia and Egypt.
The centre-Right candidate said: “We Europeans are the ones who decide who comes to the European Union and under what circumstances.”
