BRITAIN’S illegal migrants could be sent to Rwanda under plans to cut the number of dangerous Channel crossings.
Boris Johnson is understood to be finalising proposals to process asylum seekers in the tiny landlocked African nation.
Ministers hope that dealing with migrants’ claims abroad will deter them from making the perilous journey in rickety dingys.
After scoping out potential locations, a government source has told The Times that Rwanda was now the most likely choice.
It would see the UK give millions to Rwanda, which was memorably gripped by civil war and genocide in the 1990s.
The Home Office did not deny the reports, but a source stressed “lots of countries were still under consideration too”, adding they would likely be in Europe or Africa.
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The PM’s flagship Nationality and Borders Bill that is nudging through Parliament will allow migrants’ claims to be dealt with abroad.
Ministers are virtually powerless to expel asylum seekers from Britain and have put them up in hotels and military barracks at enormous taxpayer cost.
Priti Patel has been on the rack over the debacle and is under enormous pressure to cut the number of crossings that boomed during the pandemic.
The Home Secretary has vowed the landmark legislation will “fix our broken asylum system” in a last roll of the dice.
A Government spokesman said: “As set out in our New Plan for Immigration we are committed to working closely with a range of international partners as we continue to fix our broken asylum system.”
