BIG STORY

UK To Send Asylum-Seekers To Rwanda

Published

3 years ago

April 14, 2022

Britain will send migrants and asylum-seekers who cross the Channel thousands of miles away to Rwanda under a controversial deal announced Thursday as the government tries to clamp down on record numbers of people making the perilous journey.

“From today anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a speech near Dover in southeastern England.

“Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead,” Johnson said.

He called the East African nation with a sketchy human rights record “one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognized for its record of welcoming and integrating migrants.”

Johnson was elected partly on promises to curb illegal immigration but has instead seen record numbers making the risky Channel crossing.

He also announced that Britain’s border agency would hand responsibility for patrolling the Channel for migrant boats to the navy.

More than 28,000 people arrived in Britain having crossed the Channel from France in small boats in 2021.

Around 90 percent of those were male and three-quarters were men aged between 18 and 39.

The Rwanda plan swiftly drew the ire of opposition politicians who accused Johnson of trying to distract from his being fined for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules, while rights groups slammed the project as “inhumane”.

Ghana and Rwanda had previously been mentioned as possible locations for the UK to outsource the processing of migrants, but Ghana in January denied involvement.

Instead, Kigali on Thursday announced that it had signed a multi-million-dollar deal to do the job, during a visit by British Home Secretary Priti Patel.

“Rwanda welcomes this partnership with the United Kingdom to host asylum seekers and migrants, and offer them legal pathways to residence” in the East African nation, Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said in a statement.

The deal with Rwanda will be funded by the UK to the tune of up to 120 million pounds ($157 million, 144 million euros), with migrants “integrated into communities across the country,” it said.

In Dover, where many migrants arrive after crossing the Channel, some residents welcomed the announcement.

“They should be sent back because it is not our responsibility,” said retiree Andy, 68.

“Our responsibility is to look after our people, which we aren’t doing,” the heavily tattooed army veteran told AFP.

“I understand people escaping from repression, I do. But if they’re coming over here for one thing and that is money, to me that is wrong.”

Backlash

Refugee Action’s Tim Naor Hilton accused the government of “offshoring its responsibilities onto Europe’s former colonies instead of doing our fair share to help some of the most vulnerable people on the planet”.

“This grubby cash-for-people plan would be a cowardly, barbaric, and inhumane way to treat people fleeing persecution and war,” he said.

Scotland’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the plan showed that the Conservative government was “institutionally racist”.

The government “rightly provides asylum and refuge to Ukrainians fleeing war, but wants to send others seeking asylum thousands of miles away to Rwanda for ‘processing’,” Yousaf tweeted.

Australia has a policy of sending asylum seekers arriving by boat to detention camps on the Pacific island nation of Nauru, with Canberra vowing no asylum seeker arriving by boat would ever be allowed to permanently settle in Australia.

Since 2015 the UK has “offered a place to over 185,000 men, women and children seeking refuge more than any other similar resettlement schemes in Europe,” Johnson said.

According to the UN refugee agency, Germany received the highest number of asylum applicants (127,730) in Europe in 2021, followed by France (96,5h10), while the UK received the fourth-largest number of applicants (44,190).

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BIG STORY

President Tinubu Appoints Abiola’s Son Jamiu SSA On Linguistics, Foreign Matters

Published

8 hours ago

November 27, 2024

PorscheClassy News

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jamiu Abiola as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Linguistics and Foreign Matters.

Abiola is one of the children of the winner of the 1993 presidential election annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida, the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

He was previously appointed as the Special Assistant to the President on Special Duties in the Office of the Vice-President.

In a statement on Wednesday by the Director, Information and Public Relations, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, Abiola’s appointment takes effect from November 14, 2024.

Imohiosen stated that the appointment aligns with the provisions of the Certain Political and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act 2008, as amended.

He said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jamiu Abiola as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Linguistics and Foreign Matters.

“The appointment takes effect from 14th November, 2024. This is in line with the provisions of the Certain Political and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act 2008, as amended.

“Until his appointment, Jamiu served as the Special Assistant to the President on Special Duties in the Office of the Vice President.

“President Tinubu tasks the appointee to work closely with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and bring his wealth of experience to bear in his new assignment.”

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BIG STORY

Senate Passes Bill For Ijebu State Creation For First Reading

Published

9 hours ago

November 27, 2024

PorscheClassy News

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday passed a bill for the creation of Ijebu State, marking the first reading of the proposal during its plenary session.

The bill, which seeks to establish Ijebu as an independent state, was sponsored by Senator Gbenga Daniel, representing Ogun State.

Titled the “Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Sixth 1 Alteration) Bill, 2024 (Creation of Ijebu State),” the proposed legislation aims to carve out Ijebu from the current Ogun State.

The bill was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Michael Bamidele of the All Progressives Congress as the “fourth order of the day” during the plenary.

After reading the title of the bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio moved the proposal forward, passing it for its first reading and setting the stage for further legislative processes.

The bill will now undergo a series of discussions and evaluations before it can proceed to the next stages of approval.

The push for the creation of Ijebu State is part of a broader national discourse on the need for more state creation across Nigeria, particularly in regions where there are growing demands for administrative autonomy.

If the bill successfully progresses through the required legislative procedures, Ijebu, currently a part of Ogun State, could become a separate state with its own governance structures.

This development comes amid increasing calls for state creation in various parts of the country, with proponents arguing that new states could better address local needs, foster economic growth, and enhance political representation.

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BIG STORY

Alleged N110bn Fraud: Court Adjourns Yahaya Bello, Other’s Bail Ruling To December 10

Published

14 hours ago

November 27, 2024

PorscheClassy News

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned to December 10 for a ruling on the bail application by the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and two others.

Bello had pleaded not guilty to the 16-count charges brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The former governor, along with Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as the 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh N110bn 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.

Bello, the 1st defendant, vehemently denied the allegations before Justice Maryanne Anenih as they were read out to them.

After taking their plea, the Defendant’s Counsel, Joseph Daudu, moved an application for bail.

However, the EFCC Counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, opposed the application, arguing that it had expired in October.

Clarifying the issue, the Defendant’s Counsel stated that the only relevant application before the Court was the motion for bail in respect of the first defendant, which was filed on November 22.

Relying on all the paragraphs of the affidavit, he added that the bail application was also supported with a written address.

Justice Anenih ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

The EFCC had filed an N110bn alleged fraud suit against the former governor.

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