Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the last two remaining candidates for the leadership race in Britain's ruling Conservative Party, have pledged in their latest statements to tighten controls on immigration to the UK if they become the next party leader and Prime Minister. Sunak announced that he would implement the Rwanda plan, and Truss announced that he would make Rwanda-like agreements with other countries.
Former Finance Minister Sunak said it would make it harder to qualify for asylum and put a cap on the number of refugees.
Foreign Secretary Truss noted that the UK will expand its Rwandan asylum scheme and increase the number of Border Force personnel.
Earlier, a source close to Truss had told the Times newspaper that Truss wanted to include other countries in the program of sending immigrants who entered the country illegally to Rwanda, and Turkey was among these countries.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tanju Bilgic, said, "Turkey will not be a refugee camp or border guard of any country, nor will it in any way take over the international obligations of third countries."
So far this year, more than 14,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to reach England in small boats.
In April, the government announced that it would send some asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally to Rwanda to seek asylum, in an effort to deter crossings.
However, no asylum seekers have yet been sent to the East African country after a series of legal appeals. If the courts decide the plan is illegal, Britain will lose the £120m it paid to Rwanda.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss told the Mail on Sunday that Rwandan policy is "the right approach" and is determined to see it implemented.
“I know from my work as Secretary of State that there are more countries we want to work with and we will go forward very strongly in these efforts under my leadership,” Truss said.
Truss also said that if he becomes Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, he will increase Border Force personnel from 9,000 to 10,800.
He also promised a strengthened UK bill of rights, adding: "I am determined to put an end to the horrific human trafficking we face."
Sunak also pledged to do "whatever it takes" to make the Rwandan plan work, and described Britain's immigration policy as "crooked" and "chaotic".
It has also pledged to allow parliament to set an upper limit for the number of refugees admitted each year, but this will be subject to change in emergencies.
Sunak also said he would expand the powers necessary to detain and monitor those who enter the UK illegally.
"Right now the system is chaotic, law-abiding citizens see boats full of illegal immigrants from the safe country of France, our sailors and coast guards are incapable of stopping them," Sunak said.
Opposition Labor MP Yvette Cooper, who is charged with overseeing the government's interior minister, said the new Prime Minister candidates were wasting taxpayers' money with the Rwanda plan:
“The Conservatives have been in power for 12 years. Having failed for so long, it's still pretty hard to believe they're going to get things done.”
47 people were scheduled to be sent to Rwanda last month. However, the flight was canceled after a series of legal objections.