Priti Patel hits back at critics after archbishops lambast Rwanda refugee plan

In a joint editorial in The Times with Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta, Ms Patel said: "It's surprising those institutions that criticise the plans fail to offer their own solutions."

The article by the Home Secretary and Mr Biruta described the new deal, which will see the UK send asylum seekers to Rwanda where they can apply to live permanently, as a "groundbreaking long-term partnership which will set a new international standard".

It said: "It tackles this urgent global issue at its roots, by addressing the human capital imbalances which together with conflict and instability drive the global migration crisis.

"Through investment in jobs, skills, and opportunities in Africa, this bold new approach hopes to set a precedent that could be replicated elsewhere.

"It will disrupt the business model of organised crime gangs and deter migrants from putting their lives at risk.

"And it will ensure that those who are in genuine need of protection will be safe and secure in a host country recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants."

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby deemed the plans ungodly, while his counterpart in York also used his Easter sermon to deride the idea as “so depressing and distressing”.

Mr Welby said there are “serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers overseas”.

He said: “The details are for politics. The principle must stand the judgment of God, and it cannot. It cannot carry the weight of resurrection justice, of life conquering death. It cannot carry the weight of the resurrection that was first to the least valued, for it privileges the rich and strong.”

He was joined in his criticism by the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who said: “We can do better than this.”

He added: “After all, there is in law no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker. It is the people who exploit them that we need to crack down on, not our sisters and brothers in their need. We don’t need to build more barriers and cower in the darkness of the shadows they create.”

Some Conservative MPs took to Twitter to say religious leaders should stay out of politics, suggesting the two archbishops had overstepped the mark.

However Tory MP for Sutton Coldfield and former minister Andrew Mitchell said although he had “enormous sympathy” with the Government, the policy was unlikely to achieve its aims.

He said: “What I’m worried about with the Rwanda policy is it won’t achieve what they are after, it’s also likely to be horrendously expensive, and we have to have a great care at this time for taxpayers’ money.”

He added: “The public are right to say we do not want feckless benefits seekers masquerading as economic migrants trying to come to our country illegally and without permission and of course, we all sign up to that.

“And if they’re processed here, and they’re found not to have a case for asylum, then by all means, send them off to a third country that will take them.

“But the danger is that we won’t be doing what we have always done since the 16th and 17th century with the Huguenots through the Syrians, as I said, under David Cameron, through the Ukrainians now. We won’t have been a beacon in a terrible and difficult world for those fleeing persecution who can always rely upon the Brits – where they are genuinely fleeing persecution – to come to the rescue.”

Energy minister Greg Hands denied this morning that the UK is outsourcing its responsibilities by sending migrants to Rwanda.

Put to him that this is the case, he told Sky News: “No, we’re not. This is an agreement between two sovereign countries: the UK and Rwanda.”

Mr Hands also echoed Ms Patel’s challenge for critics of the plan to come up with a better idea to tackle small boat crossings.

Asked if the Archbishop of Canterbury was wrong to call the plan “ungodly”, he said: “I think what others, the critics of this plan, need to do is to show what their solution would be.”

But shadow policing minister Sarah Jones said it is “madness” to expect migrants to stay in Rwanda after they try to reach the UK.

She claimed the Government is merely “moving” the people smuggling problem, rather than “fixing” it.

Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “The Government hasn’t even said how much this is going to cost – the £120 million is just an upfront payment to the Rwandan government. The actual admin of the scheme, they don’t even know how much that’s going to cost.

“Sending people 4,000 miles before they’ve made a claim and expecting them to stay in a country they don’t want to be in is madness.

“We are just moving the people smuggling problem, we are not fixing it, which is what the Government claims to try and do.”

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