Immigration as a threat to the British state: A policy analysis of the United Kingdom and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership in the broader context of the UK’s stricter immigration policy

Abstract

This dissertation analyses the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership in the broader context of the UK’s stricter migration policy. The policy allows the UK to relocate migrants to Rwanda for processing, asylum, and resettlement. Those successful in claiming asylum will remain in Rwanda and will not be able to re-enter the UK. This study aims to obtain an understanding of why the British Government is proceeding with the policy despite criticism from various actors in the international arena, claiming that the policy is inhumane and a violation of the human rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. A discourse and document analysis of documents from the British Government, UNHCR, and online articles have been adopted to investigate the research questions of this case study. Moreover, after analysing the empirical material in-depth using the securitisation theory, I indicate that the main motive of the policy is unwanted immigration. In addition, using the postcolonial theory and its core concepts, I claim that the policy has tendencies of racism, concluding that the policy is biased in terms of race. Finally, using the concept of externalisation to analyse the documents, I suggest that externalisation is used as a political tool to strengthen the British borders. The results indicate that the arrangement is the British Government’s latest strategy to restrict unwanted immigration to the UK.