THERE is no clear evidence to suggest that the government’s plan to banish asylum-seekers to Rwanda will deter refugee boat crossings, MPs have claimed. 

In a damning report, published today, MPs on the influential home affairs select committee accused ministers of chasing “radical new polices that make good headlines,” but do little to prevent people making the dangerous Channel crossing. 

MPs have called on the government to provide evidence that the deal would fulfil its stated aim of deterring crossings, as well as “detailed costings” of the agreement. 

While Home Secretary Priti Patel has insisted that the deportation deal will reduce money spent on the asylum system, she has refused to reveal how much the policy is likely to cost. 

Criticising the Home Office’s approach to small boat crossings, which it said has been characterised by “inattention and poor decision making,” the committee said: “Much more clarity is required on the new plan.

“There is no clear evidence that the policy will deter migrant crossings.”

Refugee charities have repeatedly warned that the boats will continue unless the government creates safe alternative routes. 

Committee chairman Dame Diana Johnson said that the policy appears to have “gone unnoticed” by people trying to cross the Channel, as journeys continue. 

“Britain needs an asylum system that deals with reality,” she said. “It must be fair, efficient and acknowledge our international obligations.”

The committee is urging the government to set up asylum processing centres in northern France to provide a safe and legal route for asylum-seekers to come to Britain. 

MPs also found a “worrying trend” in Home Office announcements being made before policies have been worked through, tested or even agreed between departments. 

It comes after a public row broke out between the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence earlier this year over which department would take responsibility for carrying out Ms Patel’s failed pushbacks plan. 

Last week, it was revealed that the plan was dropped after the MoD warned the Home Office that the policy would put lives at risk at sea. The committee said that the government was right to drop the policy. 

On other issues, the committee also called for “urgent” measures to be taken to address the unknown number of unaccompanied child asylum-seekers going missing from hotels, including some who have permanently disappeared. 

The damning report comes after Ms Patel sparked fury among MPs last week for refusing to appear before the committee to answer questions on the Rwanda deal and other policies. 

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: "We welcome the committee’s finding that there is no evidence to suggest that deportations to Rwanda will deter refugees from crossing the Channel in small boats. 

“The Rwanda scheme currently serves only to punish those seeking safety and will not succeed in preventing people smuggling. It has been our repeated experience that policies based on deterrence do not achieve any effect."