Sunak Stands by Rwanda Migration Bill as Immigration Minister Steps Down

Robert Jenrick said that this bill would not end the legal challenges, while the prime minister warned that going further would risk the collapse of the Rwanda deal. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has defended the government’s draft emergency bill on Rwanda on Thursday after immigration minister Robert Jenrick resigned over the bill. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Draft Bill is the government’s last-ditch effort to convince the Supreme Court that Rwanda is a safe country to send asylum seekers to. However, Mr. Jenrick posted his resignation letter on Twitter, hours after the bill was published on Wednesday, saying it currently “does not go far enough.” Suella Braverman, who was home secretary until last month, also said the bill is “destined to fail.” Launching the bill in a televised statement on Thursday, Mr. Sunak said the bill will end “the merry-go-round of legal challenges” that have blocked the policy from taking off. The government’s plan to send illegal immigrants on a one-way trip to Rwanda was initially stopped by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which blocked the first deportation flight. The policy was then challenged in domestic courts, with the Supreme Court ruling that it’s unlawful. Related Stories Home Secretary James Cleverly went to Kigali on Tuesday to upgrade the Rwanda deal to a legally-binding treaty, in a bid to reassure courts that Rwanda will not send anyone back to their home country, a practice called refoulement that is banned under international law. Under the treaty, Rwanda is obligated to treat relocated individuals in accordance with international law and is not allowed to send them anywhere except to the UK upon the UK’s request, regardless of whether their asylum claims are approved. Unaccompanied children won’t be eligible for removal to Rwanda. The Bill The emergency bill is designed to have Parliament recognize Rwanda as a safe country in general for the purpose of asylum and immigration. If it’s passed, ministers and immigration officers would be legally obliged to consider Rwanda safe when deciding whether or not immigrants can be sent to the East African country. The legislation would also give ministers power to ignore ECHR orders to halt deportations and instruct courts to disregard such orders, but doesn’t include powers to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights. In his resignation letter, Mr. Jenrick said he’s “grateful” that the prime minister has moved towards his position on the emergency legislation, but said the bill is still not going far enough. The five-point plan, unveiled by Mr. Cleverly on Monday, is aimed at slashing the number of immigration by 300,000 after migration added an eye-watering 745,000 people to the UK’s population last year. Mr. Sunak wrote to Mr. Jenrick on Wednesday, saying it’s “disappointing” the latter had resigned because the pair “agree on the ends.” Mr. Sunak also said the UK has to allow legal challenges in the “extremely narrow” exceptions because it would otherwise “undermine the treaty” with Rwanda. According to French newspaper Le Monde, the French government expelled a Uzbek national in spite of the ECHR’s ban of his removal. Mr. Sunak previously promised to stop the boat by the end of the year. The number of crossings so far this year has come down by a large margin compared to the same period last year following a deal with Albania to return Albanian arrivals and other measures of tackling the smuggling gangs, but it’s still higher than the same period in 2021. Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told “Today” on Thursday morning that Labour will vote against the bill, adding that he doesn’t believe the scheme would work.



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