Mass immigration is threatening the stability of several European countries. In Italy alone there are over 700 000 irregular migrants, an untenable situation. The combined police forces of Europe have been unable to stop the people traffickers . This is because a) there are huge numbers wishing to move from poorer to richer countries b) there are huge profits to be made and very little risk for the traffickers, who are well out of sight when the migrants arrive c) it is virtually impossible to police sea borders and d) asylum laws are exploited to make the removal of irregular migrants all but impossible, ensuring that the business model of the traffickers remains credible.The only sensible solution is to deter the migrants from making the journey in the first place. The Rwanda scheme is an attempt to achieve this. If the migrants know that they are likely to end up in Rwanda rather than the UK, they will be less likely to hand over thousands of pounds to the traffickers.Unfortunately it is impossible to have a rational discussion of the topic of immigration in this country because people are more interested in attacking the government and avoiding any personal accusation of cruelty or racism than in confronting the problem. As a result a number of questionable arguments have been deployed to attack the Rwanda scheme:1) it is expensive - yes it is, but it is far more expensive to house thousands of migrants in seaside hotels2) we should stop the traffickers - yes, but that has proved impossible (see above)3) it is the existing backlog of asylum claims which is the problem - no it isn’t, it is the fact that the backlog is increased each day by further arrivals4) it is inhumane to refuse asylum to those seeking refuge from persecution - the majority of those crossing the Channel are economic migrants and even those who originally fled from persecution are already in a safe country, namely France, but wish to live in the UK 5) there are hundreds of thousands of job vacancies in this country which could be filled by the migrants - it is not morally acceptable that large numbers of British people who are fit to fill these vacancies should remain on benefit nor is it economically viable to build the houses, the roads, the schools, the hospitals to accommodate thousands of immigrants over and above the 600 000 who arrive each year legally.This does not mean that the UK should refuse asylum to those fleeing persecution. The UK has rightly offered asylum to hundreds of thousands of people from Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Hong Kong under various schemes. But the government also has to consider the needs of people already living here.
Steven Rose ● 1086d