The Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty has condemned UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying that it was a grave concern.
The bill is expected to be signed into law on Tuesday, April 23, 2-24, after passing its parliamentary stages on Monday, April 22, 2024, night.
“I am concerned that the Rwanda bill enables the implementation of a policy of removing people to Rwanda without any prior assessment of their asylum claims by the UK authorities in the majority of cases,” O’Flaherty said.
He added that the bill “significantly excludes the ability of UK courts to fully and independently scrutinise the issues brought before them.”
O’Flaherty warned that the UK was prohibited from subjecting, even indirectly, people to “refoulement”; the act of forcing a refugee or asylum seeker to a country or territory where he or she is likely to face persecution, including under article 3 of the European convention on human rights, under the refugee convention, and under “a range of other international instruments.”
“The adoption of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill by the U.K. Parliament raises major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally.
“The United Kingdom government should refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the bill’s effective infringement of judicial independence.”
Michael O’Flaherty
Additionally, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said in a statement that the new legislation “marks a further step away from the U.K.’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention.”
“Protecting refugees requires all countries – not just those neighboring crisis zones – to uphold their obligations,” Grandi added.
Moreover, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said that the bill “takes a hatchet to international legal protections for some of the most vulnerable people in the world, and it is a matter of national disgrace that our political establishment has let this bill pass.”
“The bill is built on a deeply authoritarian notion attacking one of the most basic roles played by the courts – the ability to look at evidence, decide on the facts of a case and apply the law accordingly. It’s absurd that the courts are forced to treat Rwanda as a ‘safe country’ and forbidden from considering all evidence to the contrary.”
Sacha Deshmukh
A number of charities and rights groups also condemned the passing of the bill as a “stain on this country’s moral reputation.”
The reaction came as French authorities reported that at least five people died on Tuesday when a boat carrying about 100 or more migrants got into trouble while trying to cross the English Channel.
Speaking after the passing of the bill on Monday, Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, pledged that it would be a “fundamental change in the global equation on migration.”
Sunak said that flights will begin taking asylum seekers to Kigali within 10-12 weeks, admitting he would miss his target of flights taking off by spring.
Legal Battles Ahead
The bill was passed after a showdown with peers, who eventually conceded on two amendments, but the government is expected to face a number of legal battles as it prepares to deport asylum seekers by July.
The illegal migration Minister, Michael Tomlinson, told a news agency that the government knew there would be legal battles ahead.
“I’m afraid that there will be challenges. There are people who don’t like this policy,” he admitted.
A Home Office Minister stated that the government was prepared for “inevitable” legal challenges to the Rwanda scheme, saying there were those who were “determined to do whatever it takes to try and stop this policy from working.”
The deal will cost £1.8m for each of the first 300 deportees, the National Audit Office has confirmed.
The bill also allows challenges if a detainee faces a “real, imminent and foreseeable risk of serious irreversible harm if removed to Rwanda.”
They must lodge an appeal within eight days of receiving a deportation letter.
READ ALSO: EU’s Approach to Irregular Migration, A Flawed Strategy
