London, UK: The British government has published emergency legislation, which aims to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The “Safety of Rwanda Bill” is designed to overcome a decision rendered on November 15 by the UK Supreme Court, which declared that the government’s proposed program of sending thousands of asylum seekers and migrants to the East African nation is unlawful.
UK Prime Minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak’s position appeared to be undermined after Immigration Minister, Mr. Robert Jenrick, resigned due to “strong disagreements with the direction” of the government’s policy on immigration.
The bill will instruct judges to ignore some sections of the Human Rights Act and “any other provision or rule of domestic law, and any interpretation of international law by the court or tribunal” that might deem Rwanda was not a safe country to send asylum-seekers.
“Our new landmark emergency legislation will control our borders, deter people taking perilous journeys across the channel (and) end the continuous legal challenges filling our courts. It is parliament that should decide who comes to this country, not criminal gangs,” Mr. Sunak wrote on social media platform X.
Mr. Jenrick said in his letter of resignation to the Prime Minister that the proposed laws were “a triumph of hope over experience.”
“The stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which risk paralysing the scheme and negating its intended deterrent,” Mr. Jenrick wrote.
That was seen as a reference to Mr. Sunak’s denial to take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
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