Rwanda bill at odds with UK’s human rights obligations, legislators warn
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s proposed Rwanda asylum law is “fundamentally incompatible” with the UK’s human rights obligations and would flout international law, MPs and peers have warned.
In a report published yesterday, parliament’s joint committee on human rights said the Safety of Rwanda Asylum and Immigration Bill “risks untold damage” to the UK’s reputation as a proponent of human rights internationally.
The plan is part of government’s answer to the number of migrants arriving in England, after crossing the English Channel in small boats.
The controversial draft legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled deportation scheme, after a Supreme Court ruling against it.
By compelling judges to regard Rwanda as safe, ministers want to be able to send asylum seekers on a one-way trip to the east African country.
But the cross-bench committee said they had heard evidence that the problems identified by the Supreme Court could not be resolved so quickly.
The panel said: “We are not persuaded that parliament can be confident that Rwanda is now safe. In any event, we consider that the courts are best placed to resolve such contested issues of fact.”
The bill, currently going through parliament, seeks to limit asylum seekers’ ability to appeal against being sent to Kigali. While they can try to claim Rwanda is not safe for them as an individual, they cannot argue that it is generally unsafe or that they are at risk of being transferred to a third country where they could be in danger.
The committee said this is incompatible with Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to an effective remedy.
The legislation also says it is up to ministers to decide whether to comply with interim rulings issued by judges at the European Court of Human Rights, and “openly invites the possibility of the UK breaching international law”.
Joint committee chairwoman Joanna Cherry said: “This bill is designed to remove vital safeguards against persecution and human rights abuses … the bill risks untold damage to the UK’s reputation as a proponent of human rights internationally.”
Mr Sunak, who faces an election this year, has urged the House of Lords upper chamber in not to block “the will of the people” by opposing the bill.
Last year, 29,437 people crossed the Channel in small boats, according to government figures. In 2022, the number was 45,755. As of January 21, 621 people had crossed this year.