UK Moves to Offer Nigerians, Other Asylum Seekers N6 Million to Move to an African Country
- The United Kingdom government is offering to pay African asylum seekers about N6 million to leave the country
- The government is offering incentives for asylum seekers to move to Rwanda and live their
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reportedly said he wants the first deportation flight to leave in the coming months
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Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
The United Kingdom plans to pay asylum seekers about 3,000 pounds (N3 million) to relocate to Rwanda under a voluntary plan to help clear the backlog of refugees whose asylum applications were denied by the country.
The new agreement with Rwanda is different from the government’s aborted plan to deport most asylum seekers forcefully to the East African country.
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Asylum seekers to be incentivised
In 2023, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled the move unlawful.
The move shows an existing government policy where asylum seekers are given financial incentives to leave the UK for their home countries.
Under the new plan, people will get the money if they agree to live in Rwanda.
Reuters reports that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has campaigned vigorously to stop asylum seekers coming into the country without permission on inflatable boats.
The government wanted to send thousands of people to Rwanda, but the Supreme Court ruled last year that the move was unlawful and violated British and international human rights laws.
To thwart resistance from the courts, the government is passing legislation via parliament that would block further legal hurdles by declaring Rwanda a safe country for asylum seekers.
Reports say Rwanda can only accept a few hundred asylum-seekers a year from Britain, with the UK government adding the capacity to increase it.
Sunak wants the first deportation flights to leave in a few months, ahead of the election in 2024.
The UK blocks healthcare workers from bringing dependents
This development follows the recent policy by the UK to stop healthcare workers from bringing family members and dependents to the country.
The UK Home Office announced this on Monday, March 11, 2024, through its verified X handle, formerly Twitter.
It noted that the development is part of its plan to deliver the biggest-ever cut in migration.
It further stated that 120,000 people who arrived in the country last year would no longer be eligible under its new rules.
Foreign workers are not allowed to bring dependents
Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the UK contemplated reducing the number of dependents foreign care workers can bring when relocating.
The environmental secretary, Steve Barclay, stated that the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, was considering a ban on numbers as an alternative to reducing figures.
The immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, also proposed that foreign workers could be restricted from bringing their family members to the UK or allowed to come with one relative.
The policy was established under former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who said the country would ban international students from bringing family members to the United Kingdom unless they were taking postgraduate research courses.
UAE announces 5-year multiple-entry tourist visa
Legit.ng reported that the United Arab Emirates is silent on the status of Nigerians as it recently introduced a five-year multiple-entry tourist visa.
The Arab country announced the new tourist visa for all nationals and did not mention Nigeria.
The country said in a notice in 2022 that it would no longer issue visas to Nigerians and 19 other countries and failed to provide further details.
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Source: Legit.ng
