Boris Johnson has been blasted for agreeing “cruel and nasty” plans for Britain to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Desperate people crossing the Channel in dinghies look set to be flown 5,000 miles away for processing under a pact to be announced tomorrow.
Home Secretary Priti Patel will sign a deal with the east African nation on a visit there on Thursday after months of attempts to “offshore” migrants in Albania and Ghana collapsed.
And in a speech in Kent - near the beaches where lifeboat crews bring shivering arrivals ashore - the Prime Minister will boast he is “taking back control of illegal immigration” after Brexit.
Mr Johnson will say action is needed to combat the "vile people smugglers" turning the ocean into a "watery graveyard".
He will add: “We cannot sustain a parallel illegal system. Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.”
But Labour slammed his plans as an “unethical” multi-billion pound distraction from Partygate - while 100,000 asylum seekers wait for initial decisions from the UK government.
And the Mirror understands senior Home Office officials have grave concerns over the policy.
They are said to have questioned whether an Australian-style scheme to process migrants offshore will provide value for money.
Officials have also raised concerns about whether it will even put off migrants from arriving by small boats.
Ms Patel is said to have spent the last four months making the policy "just about viable" enough for the PM to be able to announce it.
Meanwhile the Nationality and Borders Bill that would allow asylum seekers to be sent offshore has still not passed - as rebellious peers say it will breach human rights.
The scheme could collapse if rebels in Parliament are not defeated before the May 10 Queen’s Speech.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This Rwanda processing proposal is a desperate and shameful announcement by Boris Johnson in an attempt to distract from his own law breaking.
“It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis.”
It is thought migrants who "arrive illegally" in the UK will be sent to Rwanda for processing - then encouraged to settle there permanently while they wait.
A source told The Telegraph: "You are going to be met by the Army. They will drive you to the airport and send you straight to Rwanda."
Some arrivals will be reportedly allowed to stay in the UK but in a new strict 'Greek-style' immigration centre to be built in the north of England.
Sources claimed the scheme would cost £120m initially - but it was unclear what it would cost per migrant or in the long term.
Women and young children were among several boatloads of people brought ashore today at Dover and Dungeness, near where Boris Johnson will speak.
More than 4,600 people have arrived in the UK on small boats since January 1.
The Prime Minister will say tomorrow: “Before Christmas 27 people drowned, and in the weeks ahead there may be many more losing their lives at sea, and whose bodies may never be recovered.
“Around 600 came across the Channel yesterday. In just a few weeks this could again reach a thousand a day.
“I accept that these people – whether 600 or one thousand – are in search of a better life; the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start.
“But it is these hopes - these dreams - that have been exploited.
“These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children, drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries.”
Ms Patel will sign a migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda after the Prime Minister’s speech.
It will see some of those arriving illegally, such as on small boats, relocated to the country in east Africa.
Three decades on from the 1994 genocide, No10 noted Rwanda is now “recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants”.
Meanwhile the number of asylum applicants waiting for an initial decision has doubled since Covid - topping 100,000 in December.
And MPs previously heard Australia’s offshore processing system cost $1bn a year for just 300 people - or £1.9m per refugee per year.
Tory ex-minister Andrew Mitchell warned last month: “It would be much cheaper to put each one in the Ritz and send all the under-18s to Eton.”
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon tonight demanded Ms Patel "immediately rethink” the plans he said would cost £1.4bn a year.
He added: “We are appalled by the Government's cruel and nasty decision to send those seeking sanctuary in our country to Rwanda.
"Every day we are hearing the stories of desperate Ukrainian families fleeing war.
“This is the brutal reality faced by refugees escaping conflicts all over the world, who this Government now wants to treat as no more than human cargo to be shipped elsewhere.”
Mr Johnson will give the controversial speech despite it being the first day of purdah ahead of the local elections.
Ministers are advised not to announce long-term initiatives or use public money “for party political purposes” in the three weeks before polls open at 7am on Thursday 5 May.
Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International UK blasted: "Sending people to another country - let alone one with such a dismal human rights record - for asylum ‘processing’ is the very height of irresponsibility.
"It shows how far removed from humanity and reality the Government now is on asylum issues.
"This shockingly ill-conceived idea will go far further in inflicting suffering while wasting huge amounts of public money."
