The man behind Australia’s tough migrant policy, Alexander Downer, has called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to bring back the Rwanda deportation scheme. Downer, who served as Australia’s foreign minister from 1996 to 2007, said the UK should not have scrapped the plan and that it could still work if the legal problems were fixed.
Prime Minister Starmer ended the £700 million Rwanda scheme last year, calling it a political “gimmick” that failed to stop people arriving in small boats. But Downer believes removing the policy was a mistake. He told The Sun that the government should “eat a bit of political humble pie” and bring the plan back.
His comments come as the number of migrants crossing the Channel into the UK has hit a new record. Over 2,200 people arrived by boat in just one week — the highest number in almost two years. On average, one migrant reached the UK every four and a half minutes during that time. This brings the total number of arrivals under Labour to over 40,000 since the July 2024 election.
Alexander Downer helped lead Australia’s own crackdown on illegal migration in the early 2000s. At that time, migrants who tried to reach Australia by boat were sent to detention centres in Papua New Guinea or Nauru. Refugees were told they could be resettled in another country, but not in Australia. Downer said this strict approach stopped people from coming, and smugglers lost their customers. In just one year, boat arrivals dropped by 90 percent.
In the UK, Starmer has promised to stop smugglers who bring people across the Channel, including by working with other countries to return failed asylum seekers. Last month, he said Britain would start talking to third countries about creating “return hubs” for those denied asylum. These hubs would process migrants before deportation. However, he admitted this would not solve everything but could help stop people from risking the journey.
Can the Rwanda scheme really stop small boats?
According to Downer, yes — but only if the UK government solves the legal problems and sticks to the plan. He said it worked for Australia because people learned they wouldn’t be allowed to stay. But critics argue that the UK situation is more complex and that human rights laws might block such a policy.
More migrants continue to arrive daily. Just yesterday, hundreds more were seen arriving at Dover. Since January this year, 17,034 people have crossed, which is 38 percent more than during the same time in 2024. Despite efforts by both Labour and the former Conservative government, the problem has only grown.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also spoke out, saying the UK must take responsibility for the crisis. He told Talk TV that blaming France won’t help and that Britain must fix its own policies. “We will never stop the boats from leaving France,” he said. Many now wonder if bringing back the Rwanda plan is the right move — or just another political fight over a growing problem.