Undercover on the Government's Rwanda Plan

Sep 30, 2023 | For the past three months, Led by Donkeys has been investigating the government’s plan to forcibly send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a cornerstone of the Prime Minister’s “Stop The Boats” policy. And a dream of the home secretary Suella Braverman.

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

The Guardian View on the New Rwanda Bill: A Draconian Disgrace

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: In its determination to put fear of asylum seekers at the centre of the next election, the government is brushing human rights and the rule of law aside

The prime minister holds a press conference in Downing Street’s briefing room. ‘Mr Sunak’s authority is more fragile than ever.’ Photograph: Reuters
The Conservative government’s proposal to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda has always been more a piece of performative cruelty than a practical or strategic policy. It plays to the party and media gallery rather than truly addressing the migration problem. This remains even more true today, following the publication of the government’s draconian and disgraceful safety of Rwanda bill. This reneges on Britain’s human rights laws and brushes the historic role of our country’s courts aside.

The overriding purpose of the policy and the bill is to give voters the impression that the Conservatives have gripped the small boats issue before next year’s general election. Planes taking off for Rwanda make good propaganda. Yet even if the planes were to take off, Rwanda itself has made clear that the numbers removed would only be in the hundreds. The government is fixated on the migration margins, not the mainstream. » | Editorial | Thursday, December 7, 2023

This whole Rwanda scheme is disgraceful and totally unBritish at its very core. This is NOT the way that this country has historically treated its migrants and asylum seekers.

This is scandalous; it is also scandalous that this government is wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned money on such hare-brained schemes — and schemes they are! — thought up by half-wits and dim-wits! It is policies like this that bring shame on this nation. How low are we going to sink as a nation? For God’s sake: We Brits are better than this! – © Mark Alexander

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

Finland Steps Up Border Closings in Dispute With Russia

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The escalation comes as Finland tries to address a rise in the arrivals of migrants and asylum seekers that officials blame on Moscow.

Finnish border guards escorting migrants at the international crossing with Russia near Salla, Finland, on Thursday. | Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva, via Associated Press
Finland is closing all but one of its land border crossings with Russia, escalating a standoff between the two countries over an influx of migrants that Finnish officials blame on Moscow.

Starting on Friday, only the Raja-Jooseppi crossing in northern Lapland will stay open to travelers, while all seven other land crossings will be closed. Last week, Finland closed four of the entry points.

“Russia has sought for years to cause discord, to shake unity in Europe and to weaken the Western alliance and international rules-based order,” the Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said in a televised address to Parliament on Thursday. “Our national response must be clear and strong.”

He had previously said the situation at the border was deteriorating amid signs that the Russian authorities were helping asylum seekers make their way to the country.

“Finland cannot be influenced,” he said. “Finland cannot be shaken.” » | Johanna Lemola and Emma Bubola | Johanna Lemola reported from Helsinki, Finland, and Emma Bubola from London. | Thursday, November 23, 2023

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.

Michael Lambert: Failing Home Secretary Demonises Migrants

Sep 30, 2023 | Suella Braverman as Home Secretary presides over a Home Office which is in disarray. 1000 Met police officers are under investigation, only 5% of crime is solved and the borders are in chaos.

Immigration is a constant problem which Rishi Sunak has pledged to solve. Given the weakness of Rishi Sunak, she is the most powerful woman in the country. Braverman invokes memories of Germany in the 1930's! In recent years the rights of UK citizens have been much reduced, whereby the UK is now a police state. It is even an offence punishable by imprisonment to hold a sign which may offend the authorities.

Last week Braverman went to Washington to deliver a speech to the right-wing think tank American Enterprise Institute. It was a speech just a few days before the Tory party conference designed to boost her claim to be the successor to Sunak.

The speech and subsequent interviews were racist and dishonest. She presented dogwhistle arguments about the threat of migration and how it is the biggest threat that the world currently faces.

Her Rwanda policy involves swapping asylum seekers in the UK for 'vulnerable' deportees from Rwanda, another terrible deal which has cost the British taxpayer £140 million.

Braverman, by removing and restricting rights and by imposing restrictions, is turning the UK into a fascist state.

UK: Braverman Wants to Change the Definition of ‘Refugee’ to Keep Refugees Out | Vantage with Palki Sharma

Sep 28, 2023

Refugees: UK Home Secretary Braverman Questions Asylum for 'Simply Being Gay or a Woman' - BBC News

Sep 27, 2023 | Fearing discrimination for being gay or a woman should not be enough to qualify for international refugee protection, the UK home secretary has said.

Addressing a US think tank on Tuesday, Suella Braverman questioned whether the application of the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention is "fit for our modern age". Laws have morphed from helping those fleeing persecution to those fearing bias, she argued.

Labour accused her of having "given up on fixing" the asylum system.


Related video and comments by me here.

AUF DEUTSCH:

London will UN-Flüchtlingskonvention einschränken: Verfolgung müsse wieder gut begründet werden, sagt die britische Innenministerin Suella Braverman. Ihr Vorstoß ist auch eine Reaktion auf Entscheidungen britischer Gerichte. »

Migration ‘Existential Challenge’ Says Home Secretary Braverman

Sep 26, 2023 | It's not enough to fear discrimination 'simply for being gay or a woman' to qualify for asylum - according to Suella Braverman - who's been setting out her case against the global system for accepting refugees.

Related here, including my own comment.

Here follows my new comment on Braverman’s utterances:

What is there about these immigrants like Braverman that make them want to deny to others the very privileges that they themselves have been afforded? Where would she be today had Britain viewed in such a cruel way her family’s application for immigration status to this country?

In many ways, she is right in saying that multiculturalism has been a failure. That, I would not deny. But where she is making a grave mistake is in conflating the two things: granting people who might be persecuted for something, perhaps for being gay, and bringing into the country ‘wholesale’ people of other religious backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, with totally different outlooks on life — something which successive governments have done with no consideration of its impact on the country’s rich Christian heritage — is something quite, quite different.

The people were not asked if they wanted their own way of life and customs swamped by alien religions, ways of life, or customs. Governments just opened the floodgates to let them all in, because they needed the workforce for business and commerce. Perahps they would have been better off encouraging young women to stay at home and give birth! Hasn't a lack of procreation been our Achilles heel? Doesn't feminism, perhaps, have much to answer for?

Ask yourselves which given name is the most used for new born babies in modern Britain. The answers to these questions might alarm you! Then, ask yourselves what this means for Britain’s future.

But please, let us not allow Suella Braverman try and re-write the 1951 Geneva Convention. It doesn’t need re-writing. What needs to be done is for it to be respected; and, furthermore, for governments to behave responsibly.

One of the greatest failures of multiculturalism has been the attempt to mix other faiths with our own (however nominal it is), and especially trying to mix Islam with it. This is where multiculturalism has failed as an experiment. It hasn’t failed because we have given sanctuary to people in fear of persecution.

By the way, the problems of trying to mix Islam with Christianity are many and varied. Over the lifetime of this blog — it has been up and running for nearly 22 years! — I have pointed out the pitfalls countless times. But seemingly nobody wanted to listen. More especially politicians. Nothing would come in the way of the execution of their grand multicultural experiment!

In very simple terms, the greatest problem of trying to mix Islam with Christianity stems from the FACT that Islam is one organic whole. It does not respect or differentiate between the temporal and the spiritual. That means to say, it respects no separation of mosque and state, no separation of Church and state, no separation of the religious from the political. Whereas Christianity, by contrast does. Not only does it, it is its sine qua non! “…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” [KJB: Matthew 22:21]

Only in the past few days, in a trial in France, a Muslim on trial for terrorism, stated this in a French court! He said that Islam is not compatible with democracy! [« L’islam n’est pas compatible avec la démocratie » (Source)]

Suella Braverman needs to rethink her strategy on asylum seekers, especially on asylum seekers in grave danger of persecution, among whom are very many gays. They need this country’s help and protection. – © Mark Alexander

Channel Boat Deaths Prompt Fresh Anger over Asylum Policy

THE OBSERVER: Hunt is on for survivors after at least six people die, while activists call for more safe and legal routes

The government’s controversial asylum policy faced renewed criticism on Saturday when at least six people died after a small boat crossing the Channel capsized and sank.

Another two people are still believed to be missing after the sinking, prompting fresh calls for the government to urgently introduce safe routes for asylum seekers to prevent further tragedies.

As the search for survivors continued, anger quickly switched to the Home Office’s reluctance to introduce measures that would deter migrants from risking their lives crossing the world’s busiest shipping lane. » | Mark Townsend | Saturday, August 12, 2023

Naufrage de migrants dans la Manche : six morts, jusqu’à deux disparus : Près de soixante passagers ont pu être secourus, selon la préfecture maritime de la Manche et de la mer du Nord. »

Migranten-Boot kentert im Ärmelkanal : Französische und britische Kräfte konnten Dutzende Menschen im Ärmelkanal retten. Die Suche nach weiteren Vermissten dauert an. »

Legionella Discovery Forces Asylum Seekers Off Bibby Stockholm Days after Arrival

THE GUARDIAN: Bacteria which can cause serious lung infection legionnaires’ disease found in water on Dorset barge

All asylum seekers being housed onboard a controversial barge are being removed because of potentially deadly bacteria in the water system, it has been confirmed.

Home Office sources said legionella had been identified on the Bibby Stockholm, the 222-bedroom hulk hired by the Home Office as part of a £1.6bn immigration deal.

The first asylum seekers boarded on Monday, and by Friday there were 39 onboard the vessel, which is docked in Portland Port, Dorset.

People can get lung infections, such as legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever, if they breathe in small droplets of water in the air that contain the bacteria. No one has so far been identified as contracting the disease. » | Rajeev Syal and Diane Taylor | Friday, August 11, 2023

What is legionella and what damage can it cause?: We look at the health hazard of the bacteria discovered on the Bibby Stockholm barge and who is most at risk »

Lee Anderson’s Vile Anti-migrant Comments Pose This Question: Do We Want Politics Like This?

THE GUARDIAN: Even Thatcher’s governments were above the hateful, toxic rhetoric now being favoured by Sunak and his lieutenants

Does it matter if Lee Anderson, the deputy chair of the Conservative party, thinks disgruntled asylum seekers should “fuck off back to France” and says so?

“If they don’t like barges then they should fuck off back to France,” Anderson said. “These people come across the Channel in small boats … if they don’t like the conditions they are housed in here then they should go back to France, or better, not come at all in the first place.” He was speaking to the Daily Express, with the knowledge that this once-great British newspaper now thrives on printing such things.

One can be dismayed, if not surprised. Anderson likes to see himself as his party’s man of the people. He serves a purpose as the supposed link between a political organisation controlled and given its raison d’etre by the hyper-wealthy and the Friday-night saloon bar of a rundown pub. » | Hugh Muir | Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Related article.

Downing Street Backs Tory Deputy Chair over ‘Back to France’ Comments

THE GUARDIAN: Lee Anderson’s remarks on Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers supported by justice secretary, who No 10 says is speaking for government

‘Divisive tactics’: Lee Anderson arriving at the Conservative conference in May. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock
Downing Street has backed the Conservative deputy chair, Lee Anderson, after he was criticised for saying people complaining about being housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge after entering the UK illegally should “fuck off back to France”.

Anderson made the comments in an interview with the Daily Express, after the transfer of asylum seekers to the barge was delayed by safety concerns and legal challenges.

He won the backing of Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, who said that while Anderson’s language was “salty” his “indignation is well placed”, and the comments were “not bigotry at all”.

No 10 also said the justice secretary was speaking for the government in backing Anderson. » | Rowena Mason Whitehall editor, Diane Taylor and Sammy Gecsoyler | Tuesday, August 8, 2023

The Tories have reached a new low now! Is Lee Anderson an example of the calibre of today’s Conservative politicians? Of course, he must be. My God! Such a disgraceful man; such a disgraceful way for a man in his position to speak! Sunak should kick this common bully, this bruiser out of the party, not endorse his disgusting outburst. This sort of obscene, obnoxious and intemperate utterance should make all decent Brits feel ashamed of their country. – © Mark Alexander

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 »

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".

Rwanda Asylum Seeker Policy: Ex-PM Theresa May Criticises Government Plan

Theresa May was Boris Johnson's direct predecessor as prime minister
BBC: Former prime minister Theresa May has criticised the government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Mrs May told the Commons she did not support the policy due to her concerns over whether it met standards on "legality, practicality and efficacy".

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the scheme would be "a major blow to people smugglers" and would stop people dying on dangerous routes to the UK.

The policy has been criticised by charities and opposition parties.

Mrs May, who also served as home secretary overseeing the UK's immigration policy between 2010 and 2016, asked if the trial scheme would lead to an increase in trafficking of women and children - after reports that only single men making illegal crossings to the UK would be sent to Rwanda.

Under the scheme - announced last week - people deemed to have entered the UK unlawfully will be flown to the African country, where they would be processed, and if successful, would have long-term accommodation in the African country.

Responding to a statement on migration by Ms Patel, Mrs May said: "From what I have heard and seen so far of this policy, I do not support the removal to Rwanda policy on the grounds of legality, practicality and efficacy.

"If it is the case that families will not be broken up, does she not believe and where is her evidence that this will not simply lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children?" » | BBC | Tuesday, April 19, 2022

One word sums up Priti Patel nicely: Nasty! – © Mark

Rwandan LGBTIQ People Warn: It’s Unsafe to Send Queer Asylum Seekers Here

OPEN DEMOCRACY: The UK intends to send asylum seekers to the east African country. Rights groups say LGBTIQ people will be particularly at risk

Gerald* and his boyfriend fled Rwanda in February this year to escape persecution from their families and church. “They beat us, starved us and refused to give us shelter,” he told openDemocracy from neighbouring Uganda.

His testimony comes after the UK government announced new proposals to resettle asylum seekers in Rwanda.

The £120m scheme, paid for by the British taxpayer, will mostly target single men arriving on boats or lorries. Prime minister Boris Johnson called the plan “humane and compassionate” and said it would put an end to the businesses of “vile people smugglers”. But rights groups say it will be particularly harmful to LGBTIQ people given Rwanda’s track record on LGBTIQ rights.

“It’s appalling for everyone. But for LGBTIQ people in particular, it’s substantially worse,” says Sonia Lenegan, legal and policy director at the NGO Rainbow Migration.

“The government must abandon this problematic agreement. There will be legal challenges to this.” » | Khatondi Soita Wepukhulu and Nandini Archer | Saturday, April 16, 2022