Southwark News readers took to Twitter last week to vote on whether they agreed with Priti Patel’s Rwanda immigration scheme.
With the votes now in, the News can reveal that 72.5% of people said they disagreed with the idea of sending unauthorised migrants to Rwanda.
27.5% of voters said they agreed. That means, of the 149 people who voted, 108 people were against the scheme, with the remaining 41 in favour.
The controversial deal, signed by Home Secretary Priti Patel on Thursday 14 April, would see Rwanda take on responsibility for migrants entering the UK via illegal routes.
Andrew Griffiths, the PM’s policy chief in Number 10, said the policy could be “implemented and operationalised in weeks or a small number of months”.
However, Patel has had to issue a ministerial direction to overrule civil servants concerned the scheme won’t deliver value for money.
The UK government has already paid Rwanda £120 million as part of the deal. It has been reported that it would cost between £20,000 and £30,000 for each migrant to be sent to Rwanda.
The UK could also face legal challenges after the United Nations Refugee Agency expressed strong opposition to the plans.
There are also fears that those sent to Rwanda could be subject to poor conditions in a country ruled by President Paul Kagame, who has a chequered human rights record.
Last week, the News went to Dulwich Village to ask local residents what they thought of the scheme.
Those interviews can be watched on the Southwark News website – click below
Dulwich Village resident Damien Hackett said: “If people are coming here illegally, then I think it’s not an unreasonable way of stopping the problem which is people assuming they can come to the UK.”
But Nigel Blakelock, also of Dulwich Village, said: “I think it’s a really bad idea. The Home Secretary is, I think, a rather unfeeling person to put it mildly. They are going somewhere where god knows what’ll happen to them. I’m glad I’m not one of them.”
Similar offshore immigration schemes have previously been attempted by Israel, Australia and Demark.