LONDON, Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The government is introducing emergency legislation to mark Rwanda as a safe country, the prime minister says, after the UK Supreme Court ruled the flagship asylum policy was unlawful.
Rishi Sunak said the UK was working on a new treaty with Rwanda following the court’s decision.
The treaty would protect against the removal of asylum seekers from Rwanda back to their home country, he said.
“We need to end the merry-go-round” of legal challenges, he added.
The controversial plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda and ban them from returning to the UK has been subject to court challenges since it was first announced by Boris Johnson in April 2022.
The Supreme Court – the highest court in the UK – ruled on Wednesday that the plan in its current form was unlawful.
Addressing reporters at a Downing Street press conference, Sunak said the new treaty and emergency legislation would address concerns and confirm Rwanda is a safe country.
But he said the plan could face further challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
“We must be honest about the fact that even once Parliament has changed the law here at home, we could still face challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” he said.
“I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights. If the Strasbourg court chooses to intervene against the expressed wishes of Parliament, I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off.”
The legal case against the policy hinges on the principle of “non-refoulement” – that a person seeking asylum should not be returned to their country of origin if doing so would put them at risk of harm – which is established under both UK and international human rights law.
Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from a significant section of his party over immigration.
He has promised to “do what is necessary” to enact the Rwanda policy, but it is not clear yet how far he would go.
Many expect a new treaty to be challenged in the courts and Tory MPs will be demanding more detail on how he thinks he can circumvent human rights laws and international conventions.
Sunak said the government wanted to see flights to Rwanda take off by next spring “as planned”.
But he carefully avoided promising flights would leave before the next general election, widely expected to be held next year. — NNN-AGENCIES
