UK’s Rishi Sunak To Introduce Emergency Law On Rwanda Policy

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday (local time) said his government will be taking the “extraordinary step” of introducing an emergency legislation in Parliament to confirm his Rwanda migration scheme is “safe”. This came after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to the African country was unlawful.

The Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal ruling, which observed that Rwanda had to make “significant changes” to the deportation policy as the migrants could be exposed to human rights breaches while highlighting the country’s poor record of complying with other international treaties and judicial failings.

In a statement posted on X, Sunak said he would not allow the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to cause further legal blockades by blocking the deportation flights. According to legal experts, while the emergency law could address domestic issues, people facing deportation can still approach the ECHR for relief.

“Following today’s ruling, I’m taking the extraordinary step of introducing emergency legislation to confirm Rwanda is safe. I will not allow a foreign court, like the European Court of Human Rights, to block these flights,” he said.

The UK government’s Rwanda asylum plan is a policy aimed at addressing the issue of migrants arriving in the UK through unauthorised routes, such as stowaways or small boats across the English Channel.

The plan involved a deal signed with Rwanda in April 2022, under which the UK could send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed there. If their claims were successful, they would be granted the opportunity to stay in Rwanda; if not, they could apply to settle on other grounds or seek asylum in another safe third country.

Sunak said the UK government has been working on a new international treaty with Rwanda and it will be ratified without delay, adding it was needed to “end the merry-go-round”.

“We’ll provide a guarantee in law that those who are relocated from the UK to Rwanda will be protected against removal from Rwanda,” he said.

The UK government argued that this approach would prevent loss of life at sea and combat illegal immigration. However, the plan faced significant opposition from human rights organisations, refugee groups and political figures.

Asserting that he would not take the easy way out, Sunak said he was prepared to “change our laws and revisit those international relationships to remove the obstacles in our way”.

“If the ECHR chooses to intervene against Parliament, I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to get flights off,” he added.

“We need to stop the boats and the Rwanda policy is an essential part of the deterrent. People need to know that if you come here illegally, you will not get to stay,” he further said.

The policy was intended as a deterrent to discourage people from undertaking dangerous journeys to reach the UK and to undermine the operations of people-smuggling networks.