UK New PM Keir Starmer Expresses Migrant Deportation Plan To Rwanda 'Death And Buried'

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer/PHOTO via Instagram @keirstarmer

JAKARTA - British new Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would cancel a controversial plan to fly thousands of asylum seekers/migrants from England to Rwanda in his first major policy announcement after a landslide win in the election.

The Conservative government previously first announced the plan in 2022 to send migrants arriving in the UK without permission to the East African country, saying it would end asylum seekers' arrival with small boats.

But no one has been sent to Rwanda based on the plan due to years of legal challenges.

At his first press conference since becoming prime minister, Starmer said Rwanda's policy would be scrapped as only about 1 percent of asylum seekers would be removed and the policy would not serve as a precautionary tool.

"The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It was never a preventive tool," said Starmer. "I'm not ready to continue the gimmick that won't provide a deterrent effect," he said.

Starmer won one of the largest parliamentary majority in British modern history on Friday, July 5th making him Britain's most powerful leader since former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

However, Starmer faces a number of challenges, including improving difficult public services and reviving a weak economy.

At a press conference on Downing Street, Starmer answered dozens of questions and was repeatedly asked about how and when he would start fulfilling his promise to fix the nation's problems.

But he did not provide specific details about what was planned.