Senior European Judge Claims Rwanda Plan Is Illegal

THE TELEGRAPH: Leader of international court says ignoring Rule 39 orders would breach legal obligations

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan was dealt a blow on Thursday as Strasbourg’s most senior human rights judge said that his deportation scheme would breach international law.

Síofra O’Leary, the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said that the UK would be in breach of its legal obligations if it refused to comply with a Strasbourg injunction, known as a Rule 39 order. » | Charles Hymas, Home Affairs Editor | Thursday, January 25, 2024

UK Paid Rwanda an Extra £100m for Asylum Deal

Rishi Sunak defended his Rwanda plans at a press conference on Thursday
BBC: The UK has given Rwanda a further £100m this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.

The payment was made in April, the Home Office's top civil servant said in a letter to MPs, after £140m had already been sent to the African nation.

Sir Matthew Rycroft said another payment of £50m was expected next year.

The revelation came hours after Rishi Sunak vowed to "finish the job" of reviving the plan after the resignation of his immigration minister this week.

The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022. » | Andre Rhoden-Paul, BBC NEWS | Friday, December 8, 2023

FFS! What a tosser Sunak is! Has he taken leave of his senses? Does this country really have to pay all these HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of tax-payers' money paid out for a HARE-BRAINED SCHEME that will probably never work anyway? And, by the way, when large sums of money like that go to such countries in Africa, they usually end up in private bank accounts: the bank accounts of the rulers! They live in the lap of luxury whilst the British taxpayers suffer.

When it comes to paying the elderly a decent state pension, they can never afford the money. Even the triple lock, which is paid because the government has been incapable of controlling inflation in the economy, is, we are told, "unsustainable" in the long-term. Yet the government can find enormous sums of money for silly schemes thought-up up by half-wits!

When I was in school, we had a name for people like this... We'd call them wankers! Sunak is such a person.

Kick him out of office as soon as possible. He was never elected into office in the first place anyway. – © Mark Alexander

The Guardian View on the Rwanda Deal: Tory Asylum Policy Sinks to a New Low

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: This malign deportation scheme is a distraction from years of broken pledges

Suella Braverman wasn’t sacked from her post as home secretary three weeks ago because of her zeal in promoting the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda – a policy she once described as her “dream”. It was an intemperate attack she made on the police in the Times that led to her dismissal by the prime minister she had defied in making it. But anyone who thought – or hoped – that her replacement by James Cleverly would bring an end to this vicious, wrong-headed policy was mistaken. Rishi Sunak’s government remains wedded to its project of sending asylum seekers from all over the world to central Africa. » | Editorial | Tuesday, December 5, 2023

The Tories have turned into a party in no small part made up of immigrants hell-bent on denying new immigrants the right to settle here. I wonder where these people would have been today had the UK denied their families entry into this country, the very country that gave these people opportunity, the very country to which they are so determined to deny the same opportunities to others? This anti-immigrant fervour is quite unprecedented among immigrants, I feel sure. – © Mark Alexander

Sunak Could Block Human Rights Act to Force through Rwanda Asylum Plan

THE GUARDIAN: No 10 has discussed possibility of ‘disapplying’ key human rights law to emergency bill to head off legal challenges

The prime minister is under intense pressure from the Conservative right to get the Rwanda scheme working. Photograph: Leon Neal/PA
Rishi Sunak is considering blocking a key human rights law to help force through plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid growing pressure from rightwing Conservative MPs.

No 10 has discussed the possibility of “disapplying” the Human Rights Act to an emergency bill in an effort to minimise legal challenges against the prime minister’s key immigration policy. Ministers are aware such a proposal could face rebellions in the Commons and the Lords, which could vote down the proposals.

A Conservative party source said: “This would tear the party apart. Several cabinet ministers and the one nationers would not stand for it – the prime minister wouldn’t even get it through the Commons. Never mind that this wouldn’t placate the head-bangers on the right either.” » | Rajeev Syal, Home affairs editor | Sunday, November 19, 2023

Is this man truly fit to govern us? – © Mark Alexander

The Conservative Party Is Dead

Nov 18, 2023 | I thought I saw a sign of life as Suella Braverman was sacked but Sunak has confirmed that the moral leadership is missing- this is a party on the last stages of decay, what Bercow called "a rotting corpse". What is left, its zombie pretence of authority and life is controlled by the shady forces of the ERG [European Research Group] and its part-time members (each eager to stake out an afterlife in media or business) can no longer command respect. It is sad to see such a death.

Michael Lambert: CLUELESS SUNAK Has No Idea What to Do

Nov 18, 2023 | Last week the UK Supreme Court ruled against the UK government's appeal to be able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda .

Instead of accepting this decision, in an attempt to appease the right-wing of the Conservative party, Rishi Sunak announced that he would negotiate a new treaty with Rwanda and push a bill through parliament, claiming that Rwanda is a safe country.

Suella Braverman was sacked by Sunak and immediately began criticising him in the press. David Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary despite his many questionable associations since leaving office.

Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister, ordered the charity Care 4 Calais not to provide clothing or other assistance to asylum seekers at Fort Napier detention centre.

Sunak continues to talk delusional nonsense about how well the government is doing. Former Secretary of State for Health is now the Secretary of State at DEFRA looking after the environment. His wife is a senior employee at Anglia Water which was recently fined £2.65 million for dumping sewage. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt claimed 27 pence for a journey of half a mile in his car.



Michael, thank you for this truly excellent, but depressing, synopsis of this disgusting government and the chaos it has unleashed on this country through Brexit, economic mismanagement, and corruption. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that this country needs a revolution. No government as per usual is going to have the ability or power to sort out this bloody mess. – © Mark Alexander

Asylum Seeker from Supreme Court Case Says He Would Rather Die Than Fly to Rwanda – BBC News

Nov 17, 2023 | An asylum seeker who received a letter informing him he could be sent to Rwanda and was one of those to challenge the government at the Supreme Court has told BBC Newsnight he would rather die than go to the African nation.

The Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal ruling on Wednesday that deemed the government’s policy to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda and ban them from returning to the UK was unlawful.

Rishi Sunak says the government will work on a new treaty with Rwanda and he is prepared to change UK laws.

The 49-year-old asylum seeker has asked for his identity to be hidden, and his words have been spoken by a translator.

Today Rishi Sunak Announced that a Law in Parliament Can Change Morality

Nov 15, 2023 | Professor Tim Wilson: What the Supreme Court rules as unsafe can be legislated as "safe". What is bad can be renamed "good" by an act of Supremacy. No one should be silent in the face of this outrage.

The mere thought of sending these people to Rwanda is absolutely abhorrent to me. Many of those people they want to send might well be gay; so how are these people going to be treated in Rwanda? As for Suella Braverman, thank God she's gone. (But how much trouble for Sunak is she going to make from the back benches?) As for Rishi Sunak himself, he's a schoolboy in a man's world, playing politics and playing to the fascist, right-wing fools that follow him and his ilk. The best of Tories have long gone. We are left with the dross. – © Mark Alexander

Rishi Sunak to Bring in Emergency Law after Court’s Rwanda Ruling

THE GUARDIAN: PM says legislation will ‘confirm’ Rwanda is safe country for asylum seekers – and says he is prepared to defy ECHR if necessary

Rishi Sunak said he accepted the supreme court decision but he did not agree with it and would find a way around it. Photograph: Leon Neal/PA
Rishi Sunak is introducing emergency legislation to “confirm” that Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers deported from the UK, after the supreme court blocked his plan.

The prime minister said he would bring forward the new laws shortly and would be prepared to defy any judgment from the European court of human rights in Strasbourg if there were further attempts to stop Rwanda flights going ahead.

“I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights,” he said, arguing that the supreme court judgment had hardened his resolve for the Rwanda plan to proceed.

He added: “I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off. I will not take the easy way out.” » | Rowena Mason, Whitehall editor | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

This unelected prime minister is surely overstepping the mark in overriding this Supreme Court decision. Why have a Supreme Court at all if you aren't going to abide by the Court's decisions? Moreover, Sunak will be setting a very dangerous precedent by doing this. This prime minister is behaving like a schoolboy in a man's world! – © Mark Alexander

Braverman Plan to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda Unlawful, Appeal Court Rules

THE GUARDIAN: Judges rule against policy after high court previously found it was lawful to send some people to Rwanda to have claims processed

Court of appeal judges have ruled by a majority of two to one that it is unlawful for the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.

The ruling from Lord Burnett, Sir Geoffrey Vos, and Lord Justice Underhill follows a four-day hearing in April against a high court ruling last December that found it was lawful to send some asylum seekers, including small boat arrivals, to Rwanda to have their claims processed rather than dealing with their applications for sanctuary in the UK. » | Diane Taylor | Thursday, June 29, 2023

Rwanda policy: Government to take Rwanda ruling to Supreme Court: The government will appeal a court ruling deeming plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful, Rishi Sunak has said. »

What is the UK's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda? »

We knew it and thank God judges agree: Suella Braverman’s ‘cash for humans’ plan is immoral – and illegal: Every day we hear about the fear and trauma this dirty deal has caused among vulnerable people. Let us now build a compassionate system »

Britain’s Asylum Plan ‘Unlawful’ and Rwanda ‘Unsafe’, Lawyers Tell Court of Appeal

Apr 24, 2023 | The Government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful because the country isn't safe, the Court of Appeal has been told.

Kick this Tory government out of office. They are a disgrace. They are reducing the UK to the status of a banana republic. – © Mark Alexander

UN Human Rights Chief Says UK Should Rethink Plans to Deport Asylum Seekers to Rwanda

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Volker Türk critical of scheme he considers ethically problematic and believes government must look again at how to deal with people-smuggling gangs and the treatment of refugees

‘You cannot offshore your responsibilities to another state in the way envisaged [by the UK government].’ Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
The new UN human rights chief has urged the British government to reconsider its plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning that in the past similar “offshoring” schemes had led to “deeply inhuman” treatment of refugees.

In his first public comments on the controversy since taking office two months ago, Volker Türk rejected prime minister Rishi Sunak’s description of the £140m deal as “common sense”, saying that as well as being legally and ethically problematic it was also “very costly” and unlikely to work.

“You cannot offshore your responsibilities to another state in the way that is envisaged [by the UK government],” Türk told the Guardian. “It does raise very serious concerns, both from an international human rights and international refugee law perspective.” » | Lizzy Davies | Wednesday, December 21, 2022

UK Rwanda Asylum Plan Is Legal, High Court Rules - BBC News

Dec 19, 2022 | Plans to deport asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda are lawful, the country's High Court has ruled. In April, the Home Office announced plans to send some asylum seekers to the African country on a one-way ticket, to claim asylum there. The government says the measures would reduce numbers crossing the English Channel, but critics question Rwanda's human rights record. A decision on whether to allow an appeal on the ruling has been adjourned until next year.

The Rwanda deportation scheme might be legal, but it remains deeply shameful: Britain’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has got the go-ahead just as the African country edges towards ‘pariah state’ territory »

Gay Rwandan Man Who Found Safety in the UK Warns LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers Will Be ‘Seen as Criminals’

PINK NEWS: Growing up gay in Rwanda was like “living in prison” for Innocent.

As a child, he was singled out by children and adults alike because he was seen as “feminine”. Teachers who should have tried to put a stop to homophobic bullying instead encouraged it, saying Rwandan culture didn’t accept queer people.

Innocent fled Rwanda and arrived in the UK as a refugee. He’s built a new life for himself as an openly gay man. For the first time, he feels free.

That’s why he was so shaken when he heard that the UK government is planning to deporting asylum seekers it deems “illegal” to Rwanda. The plan, launched by previous home secretary Priti Patel, has been denounced as unnecessary, inhumane, racist, and a recipe guaranteed to result in the deaths of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. » | Patrick Kelleher | Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Rwandan Woman Faces up to 2 Years in Jail for 'Indecent' Dress | DW News

Aug 27, 2022 In Rwanda, a woman is facing two years in jail for what authorities call 'indecent' dressing. Liliane Mugabekazi was arrested in early August after a photo of her wearing a transparent dress in public went viral. Police then held her for 12 days until she was granted bail. Her court hearing is expected soon.

Rwanda: Asylum Seeker Deportation Flight to Go Ahead

Jun 13, 2022 • Downing Street insists the flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda will go ahead as planned tomorrow, after the Court of Appeal rejected a legal challenge.

The prime minister said it was necessary to stop illegal people smuggling rackets both in the UK and France.

The SNP compared it to state-sponsored people trafficking. Labour said it was "completely unworkable, deeply unethical and extortionately expensive".

Prince Charles Criticises ‘Appalling’ Rwanda Migrant Scheme – Reports

THE GUARDIAN: Source says Prince of Wales was ‘more than disappointed’ with deportation plans

A spokesperson for Clarence House said Prince Charles remains politically neutral. Photograph: Reuters
Prince Charles has privately criticised the government’s policy of deporting migrants to Rwanda, calling the practice “appalling”.

The heir to the throne has been heard opposing the policy behind closed doors, a source has told the Times and the Daily Mail.

The claim comes on the same day that a legal challenge against deporting asylum seekers was rejected by the high court. The first flight to send migrants to the central African country could leave on Tuesday. An appeal against the ruling has been launched.

…

The source said: “[Charles] said he was more than disappointed at the policy.

“He said he thinks the government’s whole approach is appalling. It was clear he was not impressed with the government’s direction of travel.” » | Harry Taylor | Friday, June 10, 2022

Related (including my own thoughts on the matter).

"Nobody Is Sleeping Here"

Jun 10, 2022 • Johnson & Patel want to deport refugees to Rwanda before even hearing their stories. Many have fled repression & war We spoke to a Syrian held at a UK detention centre & recorded the call Fearing retribution, his words are translated and spoken by an actor This is his story

If this is the way that Britain treats refugees, it makes me ashamed to be British! Shame on BoJo! Shame on Priti Patel! Shame on the Conservative government! Shame on us all for tolerating this treatment of these poor refugees! And we have the nerve to call ourselves Christians and this a Christian country! Unbelievable! – © Mark Alexander

Johnson Takes On the Archbishop of Canterbury - BBC Newsnight

On Easter Sunday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as "opposite the nature of God".

But the Prime Minister hit back, claiming in a meeting with MPs that the Archbishop had criticised the Rwanda deal more than Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Labour leader Keir Starmer called on the Prime Minister to apologise for his comments, but Johnson refused.

UK Plan to Fly Asylum-seekers to Rwanda Draws Outrage • FRANCE 24 English

Apr 14, 2022 • Britain's Conservative government has struck a deal with Rwanda to send some asylum-seekers thousands of miles away to the East African country, a move that opposition politicians and refugee groups condemned as inhumane, unworkable and a waste of public money. FRANCE 24's European Affairs Editor Catherine Nicholson tells us more.