Austria Endorses Rwanda Plan to Tackle Illegal Immigration

The Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer during a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Federal Chancellery in Ballhausplatz, Austria, on May 21, 2024. Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has endorsed the UK’s Rwanda scheme, agreeing that Europe should adopt similar arrangements with third countries to tackle illegal immigration.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Mr. Nehammer at the Chancellery in Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday where the leaders issued a joint statement saying that it “must be the governments deciding who enters our countries, not criminal gangs” and that “stronger action” needs to be taken to stop the people smuggling trade.

“The leaders agreed that working with designated safe third countries are part of the solution for best protecting Europe from irregular migratory pressures and preventing people from making illegal, dangerous journeys—such as the Rwanda style model,” the joint statement said.

Mr. Sunak and Mr. Nehammer “are acutely aware of dangers of the efforts other actors will take in instrumentalising migrants to destabilise Europe and agreed more needed to be done to secure our borders and strengthen our security,” the statement issued by Number 10 added.

The meeting comes after 15 EU nations, including Austria, called on the European Commission to tighten immigration policies and to consider third-country schemes.

Last month, the European Parliament adopted the Migration and Asylum Pact, largely in response to the 2015 European migrant crisis, which saw more than one million asylum seekers, mainly from Syria and Iraq, enter Europe.

Europe Considers Safe Country Partnerships

Speaking from Vienna, the prime minister said he and his Austrian counterpart have committed to strengthening their efforts to ending people smuggling and that in order to do so, “we have to pursue new ideas, solutions, and deterrents – removals to safe third countries—like the UK’s pioneering Rwanda scheme.”

Mr. Sunak said “it’s increasingly clear that many other countries now agree that that is the approach that is required: bold, novel, looking at safe country partnerships.”

“[Mr. Nehammer] was right on that a while ago and I’m delighted that now 15 European countries together have joined in supporting that position,” he added.

The Austrian chancellor said having asylum proceedings in safe third countries could “save human lives” by eradicating smuggling routes, and it is “something we need to put on the EU’s agenda as well.”

The leaders also welcomed the new procedures relating to Rule 39—which can be used to temporarily halt the removal of asylum seekers—adopted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

In March, the ECHR amended a rule that would make it harder for illegal immigrants to use the Strasbourg court try and delay their deportations.

The joint statement by the Austrian and British leaders said “it is essential, when examining cases related to asylum and immigration, to assess and take full account of the effectiveness of domestic procedures and, where these procedures are seen to operate fairly and with respect for human rights, that the Court should avoid intervening except in the most exceptional circumstances.”

UK ‘Leading the Charge’ To Stop Illegal Immigration

On Monday, the government announced extra funding for the National Crime Agency (NCA) to deal with illegal channel crossings. The £25 million boost will help the NCA in their efforts to disrupt people smugglers and their operations.

This includes new equipment and specialist teams to support the NCA’s investigative capability and disruption of the small boat supply chain. The funding will also enhance intelligence operations, including sharing information with European partners. The UK has already signed a deal with the EU’s border agency, Frontex, to work closely on stopping illegal crossings.

Announcing the NCA’s cash injection, Mr. Sunak said the UK was “leading the charge with partners across the continent to meet the challenges caused by intolerable levels of illegal migration.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with the chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer, at the Federal Chancellery in Ballhausplatz, Vienna, Austra, on May 21, 2024. Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

Home Secretary James Cleverly said on Monday that the government was still determined to “stop the boats.”

Mr. Cleverly said during a visit to Essex Police headquarters, “We as a Government are determined to stop the boats, to break the people smuggling gangs.”

The home secretary continued that smugglers have been “adapting their behaviour in response to the pressure we have put on with regards to the supply of small boats, to the supply of engines and illicit finance.”

The remarks come after Mr. Cleverly said there had been a “concerted effort” to derail the Rwanda plan. In recent weeks a Belfast court has ruled provisions of the Illegal Immigration Act should be disapplied in Northern Ireland because they are incompatible with post-Brexit arrangements, and the civil servants’ union has requested a judicial review of the Safety of Rwanda Act over claims it conflicts with the Civil Service Code.

“We’ve recognised that there has been a concerted effort to prevent this policy being deployed through legal challenge,” the home secretary said on Friday.

“And we’ve made sure that the law, the Safety of Rwanda Act, is robust, that it addresses the legal concerns that were highlighted to us,” he added.

So far this year, nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants have entered the UK via the small boat route.

PA Media contributed to this report.