2024-09-14 07:49:28
FDP politician Joachim Stamp proposes to relocate migrants who come via Russia and Belarus to Rwanda. His proposal is apparently causing resentment among the British.
Could Germany soon use a controversial asylum center in Rwanda that was originally financed by Great Britain? At least that is what the British tabloid newspaper “The Sun” reports. Around 10,000 refugees who come to Germany every year via the eastern borders could be sent there, the report says.
The British government originally had the centre built as part of a £700 million (around €830 million) plan to deter migrants. According to the Sun report, £290 million of this has already gone directly to the Rwandan government, as well as to charter flights and administrative costs. The asylum seekers were then supposed to stay there even if they were granted protection status. The plan was never implemented, and the centre remains empty to this day.
The new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, stopped the previous government’s plan when he took office last July. In place of the original plan, Starmer has now set up a new border security commission.
“Now Germany will benefit”
The opposition in Britain is now apparently using the issue to stir up sentiment against the Starmer government. The alleged news that Germany could use purchases made by British taxpayers sparked great outrage. James Cleverly, former British Home Secretary and member of the Conservative Party, said: “Labour’s first act in government was to cancel the ‘Rwanda Plan’. Now Germany wants to use the facilities we built,” said Cleverly. “The only people who benefit from Labour’s reckless immigration policy are people smugglers and the EU.” Former minister Chris Philp added: “Now Germany will benefit from Labour’s cancellation of the ‘Rwanda Program’.”
But what is the truth behind these statements? The excitement in Great Britain is based on the statement of a single politician from the traffic light coalition: the German migration commissioner Joachim Stamp. The FDP politician was the first to propose a concrete third-country model to reduce irregular migration.
In a Table.Briefings podcast on Thursday, Stamp said Rwanda had already created capacities that were originally intended for the agreement with Great Britain. “We could try to use these capacities, with the fundamental difference that the procedures are carried out under the umbrella of the United Nations,” said Stamp. However, he also made it clear in the interview that he was speaking as an FDP politician and not in his government role.
Stamp suggested concluding a special agreement for a specific group of refugees. The procedures should apply exclusively to refugees who come to Germany as part of the “hybrid warfare” waged by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and Belarus ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
Russia and Belarus are “deliberately sending migrants across the eastern border of the European Union,” said Stamp. “My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group. It’s about 10,000 people a year.” The Union’s proposal to implement the third-country model for all those seeking protection is unrealistic. “Other countries are giving us the finger.”
However, he also explained that his proposal would require legal changes. At the moment, there is an obstacle in that only people who have a so-called connection there – such as family ties – can be brought to safe third countries. In his view, this should be abolished.
The Union has also long been advocating a regulation whereby migrants either undergo asylum procedures in transit countries on their way to Europe or are sent to third countries outside the EU after arriving in Germany.
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At a meeting with the federal states in June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured that he would continue to examine possible models for asylum procedures in countries outside the EU and present concrete results by December. At the same time, Scholz dampened expectations that this could lead to a significant reduction in asylum applications.