Legal challenges to Rishi Sunak’s Rwandan bill are “inevitable”, the illegal migration minister has admitted, as human rights organizations have called on the government not to bring the scheme into force.
Michael Tomlinson said the government wanted to ensure flights took off “as quickly as possible” but there would undoubtedly be challenges to the legislation, which passed around midnight last night after months of parliamentary ping-pong.
“There will be challenges but we will face them, we will overcome them,” he told Kay Burley on Breakfast.
Your words come like five migrants died during an attempt to cross the English Channel on Tuesday morning.
Sunak believes Rwanda’s law – which aims to deport asylum seekers arriving in the UK via small boats to the African country – will act as a deterrent to those considering making the dangerous Channel crossing.
Tomlinson declined to provide extensive details about the flights to Rwanda, including which commercial airline and airport will be used, saying: “There are those who are determined to stop this, and if I go into details like that with you, so this will help those who want to stop this.”
Policy Center: Latest reaction after Rwanda bill passes Commons
Following the bill’s approval, the United Nations and the Council of Europe urged ministers to reconsider the scheme.
Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said the bill, which is likely to receive royal assent and be passed this week, marks “a further step in the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in contravention of of the Refugee Convention”.
“Protecting refugees requires that all countries – not just neighboring crisis zones – meet their obligations,” he said.
Bill in Rwanda will become law
“This agreement seeks to shift responsibility for protecting refugees, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying global precedent.”
Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized the bill for “reducing the ability of UK courts to scrutinize removal decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the UK and limiting the scope of national and international human rights protections for a specific group.” of people”.
The Council of Europe joined the UN in calling on the government not to enact the scheme, with human rights commissioner Michael O’Flaherty arguing that the UK “should refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the effective violation of the judicial independence of the bill”.
Rwanda plans ‘expensive trick’
Rwanda’s bill will become law this week after the House of Lords, which has repeatedly expressed its displeasure with the bill, decided it would no longer oppose it, following hours of late-night wrangling past, in an attempt to ensure change.
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Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the country was “pleased” with the passage of the legislation.
She said the bill’s passage “does not change what we have always known to be true” – which is that Rwanda “has worked hard over the past 30 years to make Rwanda a safe and secure country for Rwandans and non-Rwandans alike.”
Labor Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the scheme an “expensive gimmick” that will affect “less than 1% of asylum seekers” arriving in Britain.
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