United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced plans to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda to be processed in a secret deal said to be worth millions of pounds for the African country.

The deal has been described as ‘secretive’ with ministers only allowed to refer to ‘country X’ during meetings.

The plan, if it sees the light of day. would see the UK government fly asylum seekers, irrespective of their nationality, out to Rwanda for processing while the UK pays the African country millions of pounds.

There had been similar attempts to send migrants to Ghana and Albania in the past but these plans fell due to international outcry.

The plan, which is still in the pipeline and not fully clear how it would be carried out, was to be announced last week following a new surge in the number of migrants crossing the channel into the UK in the past few weeks.

Officially, the number of migrants that have so far crossed the Channel this year have passed 4,500, according to statistics from the Home Office, prompting the plan by Johnson.

In 2021, a total of 28,526 people crossed the Channel, but the record is expected to be broken this year.

However, the bill has met resistance in the House of Commons where an MP, David Davis, tabled an amendment to scrap the measures.

Speaking during the debate, the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Paul Butler, was deeply critical of such a move, saying enabling the offshoring of asylum seekers to overseas processing centres was evil and should not be condoned.

“When people arrive on our shores seeking protection we have a responsibility to treat them as we would wish to be treated if we indeed had to flee for our lives.

“If we move them to other countries for the process of their asylum claims, I very much fear a blind eye will be turned to their treatment.

“The inhumanity of this part of the Bill is my primary concern. There are however significant practical and financial concerns,” Butler said.

However, supporters of the plan believe it was the only way to profile asylum seekers.

Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford said: “Asylum processing overseas is one part of a system-wide reform designed to break the business model of people smugglers and disincentivise unwanted behaviours.”