Nigel Farage has suggested the UK has “gone soft” following reports that Germany could send migrants to Rwanda.
Nigel Farage accuses UK of ‘going soft’ (Image: Getty)
The Reform UK leader also believes the suggestion by the German migration commissioner to send migrants to the east African nation is a direct response to the success of the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD)
Mr Farage said: “If you think we’ve got a problem with illegal immigration, it’s nothing compared to what’s happened in the European Union since 2015, with huge numbers crossing the Mediterranean and also coming into Europe from the east.
“And it’s really interesting that in Germany, a country that has always tried to be very liberal and tolerant about these things, politics is changing very, very quickly.
“We saw over the course of the weekend, the AfD winning a state election, nearly winning a second state election in the old East Germany.”
Speaking to GB News, he added: “And now today, a proposal that comes from Germany’s migration Commissioner Joachim Stamp, who was saying, what we ought to do is to send people to come to Germany illegally, to wait for it Rwanda. To go into the same blocks that have effectively been built and paid for with British taxpayers’ money.
“So what’s actually happening? And you can go to Scandinavia, you can go to Denmark, you can go to Germany, you can go down to the south of Europe, where you’ll find the talk on illegal immigration, political talk, is getting very, very tough indeed.
“Much being said about removing benefits, and indeed, only this week, the deaths of those 12 people just off Cap Gris-Nez was blamed by a French politician on the British for being too generous.
“In the light of this German proposal, ask yourself a question: have we gone soft?”
Germany could use asylum facilities in Rwanda originally intended for the UK’s aborted migration scheme, reports from Berlin have suggested.
The country’s migration commissioner, Joachim Stamp, has suggested the EU could utilise existing asylum accommodation in the east African country, originally destined for migrants deported from Britain under the now-scrapped scheme.
The Rwanda plan, launched by the Tories in power, was intended to deter migrants planning to cross the English Channel in small boats from making the journey with the threat of deportation to Kigali.
Sir Keir Starmer scrapped the scheme, which ministers said had cost £700 million in the last year alone, when Labour came to power in the summer.
As in the UK, Germany’s ruling coalition is facing pressure to restrict unauthorised migration into the country, with recent regional elections seeing the anti-immigration far-right political party AfD make gains at the ballot box.
Asked about reports that Germany could work with the Rwandans on such a scheme, using facilities originally built for the UK, a No 10 spokesperson said they would not comment on discussions between other nations.
“Policies pursued by other countries are a matter for them. Our position with regard to Rwanda is well known,” they added.
