Opinion

Editorial: UK's refugee plan profoundly disturbing

Boris Johnson's plan to send some asylum seekers trying to enter the UK more than 4,000 miles to Rwanda will be viewed by many people with a profound sense of unease.

The British prime minister said the £120m pilot scheme would mainly focus on single men arriving on boats or lorries and would see them being given a one-way ticket to the east African nation.

According to Mr Johnson, action is needed to break the business model of "vile people smugglers".

There is no doubt that those who traffic refugees across the English Channel, where many have already lost their lives in flimsy vessels, need to be thwarted.

But there is no guarantee this controversial measure, which is chillingly lacking in compassion for those who are desperate and helpless - often fleeing unimaginable conditions in their home countries - will achieve its aims.

Concerns have also been raised about Rwanda's human rights record while the scheme has been widely criticised, with the Refugee Council branding it "dangerous, cruel and inhumane".

There are likely to be legal challenges over the plan while the financial cost could be considerable.

And there is also the human cost but that does not seem to be a key factor in the government's thinking.