29 January 2024: Joint statement on Rwanda Bill for Lords 2nd reading
Joint civil society statement on the Rwanda Bill for Second Reading in the House of Lords
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is a constitutionally extraordinary and deeply harmful piece of legislation.
It threatens the universality of human rights and is likely in breach of international law, striking a serious blow to the UK’s commitment to the rule of law.
It was not a Government manifesto commitment – on the contrary, it will hinder the UK’s ability to “continue to grant asylum and support to refugees fleeing persecution”.
As a coalition of more than 260 organisations working in and across the UK, we call on Peers to reject the Bill at Second Reading.
The Rwanda Bill undermines the principle that human rights are universal – that they apply to all of us, regardless of where we are from.
Going even further than recent Government legislation such as the Illegal Migration Act (IMA), the Rwanda Bill disapplies key aspects of our Human Rights Act (HRA) which include basic, minimum standards that exist to protect us all.
This will create a two-tiered system of human rights protection, where adults and children seeking safety who are threatened with removal to Rwanda will not have the full protections of the HRA to enforce their rights in domestic courts.
The Rwanda Bill is an attack on the constitutional role of the judiciary and the rule of law.
The Bill legislates something that has been authoritatively found to be false by the Supreme Court and requires it to be treated as true in perpetuity.
Even if a court heard overwhelming evidence that Rwanda was unsafe, it would be required to ignore the facts in front of them to “conclusively” treat Rwanda as a safe country.
If the Government is so confident about the legality of the new Rwanda treaty, it should not fear independent oversight by domestic courts.
If Parliament validates legislating legal fictions in this way, it would set a dangerous precedent for future governments – a threat to rights protections for all.
Moreover, the Bill severely restricts grounds for resisting government decisions and domestic court remedies. Limiting access to justice in this way is an erosion of the principle that we are all equal before the law.
The Bill puts the UK on a direct collision course with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Its cover contains an extraordinary statement – that the Government cannot say that it complies with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In particular, the Bill expands powers given to Ministers in the IMA to ignore interim measures of the ECtHR and that Act’s prohibition on UK courts having regard to an interim measure when considering any application/appeal relating to removal to Rwanda.
Interim measures are a life-saving tool that allow the ECtHR in exceptional circumstances to place a temporary stop on an action where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm, to allow time for a full judgment to take place.
They are binding on the Government under international law. Giving a Minister legislative validation in ignoring them is a deeply concerning green light to the breaking of international law and erodes the UK’s commitment to the Convention. The Government itself admits in its ECHR memorandum that using the power would likely breach the ECHR.
The Bill also reneges on other international commitments. In particular, it risks violating the principle of non-refoulement, which the Supreme Court found has been given effect by multiple international treaties to which the UK is a party (including the Refugee Convention and UN Convention Against Torture).
The Rwanda scheme is an attempt by the UK Government to shirk its obligations to consider asylum claims and support those granted protection as part of the international refugee protection system.
Even more alarmingly, the Bill states that the Government and courts should treat Rwanda as a safe country, regardless of “any interpretation of international law by the court or tribunal”.
This extreme provision will damage the UK’s international reputation and ability to hold other states to account for human rights abuses.
The Rwanda Bill will breach the Belfast/Good Friday Peace Agreement (B/GFA) and Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.
The B/GFA commits the UK Government to “complete incorporation into Northern Ireland law of the ECHR, with direct access to the courts, and remedies for breach of the Convention, including power for the courts to overrule Assembly legislation on grounds of inconsistency.”
These safeguards, as well as the Government’s Windsor Framework commitment to ‘no diminution of rights in Northern Ireland’, will be violated by proposals in the Bill which directly restrict domestic access to the courts, remove remedies for breaches of the Convention, and reduce the rights of refugees below the standards set by the
ECHR and other relevant international law.
Either we all have human rights, or none of us do. The Government must not be allowed to pick and choose when our fundamental rights apply, nor to undermine the ways that we can hold it to account.
Signatories:
- ACES
- Action Foundation
- African Rainbow Family
- Agenda Alliance
- All Out
- Alzheimer Scotland
- Amina MWRC
- Amnesty Bourneville
- Amnesty International UK
- Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)
- Anti-Slavery International
- Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group
- Art27 CIC
- Art27 Scotland
- Article 39
- Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees
- Asylum Link Merseyside
- Asylum Matters
- Asylum Support Appeals Project
- Bail for Immigration Detainees
- Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile
- Baptist Union of Wales
- Baptists Together
- BARAC UK
- Basis Yorkshire
- Become
- Best for Britain
- BIASAN
- Birmingham City of Sanctuary
- Birmingham Community Hosting Network (BIRCH)
- Birthrights
- Blaksox
- Bloody Good Period
- Boaz Trust
- Bradford and Shipley TUC
- Bradford City of Sanctuary
- Bridges Programmes
- British Association of Social Workers
- Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees
- C-Change Scotland
- Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
- CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers)
- Cardiff University
- Care4Calais
- Carers Trust Scotland
- Caritas Cardiff
- Caritas Shrewsbury
- Carlisle One World Centre
- Carlisle Refugee Action Group
- Central England Law Centre
- Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race & Equality Centre
- Children in Scotland
- Children’s Parliament
- Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law
- Circles Network
- Citizens Advice Newcastle
- City of Sanctuary Sheffield
- City of Sanctuary UK
- Civil Society Alliance
- Close the Gap
- Common space Common humanity
- Community Integration and Advocacy Centre (CIAC)
- Community Policy Forum
- Compassion in Politics
- Conversation Group Newcastle
- Coram Children’s Legal Centre
- Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre
- Derby Stand up to Racism
- Derbyshire LGBT+
- Distribute Aid
- Doctors of the World UK
- Ecojustice Ireland
- ECPAT UK (Every Child Protected Against Trafficking)
- Edinburgh City Mission
- Edmund Rice England
- Elmbridge CAN
- End Violence Against Women Coalition
- ENTRAIDE
- ESAScotland
- Equality Network
- Equally Ours
- Fair Vote UK
- Faith & the Environment Lincolnshire Group
- Faith in Older People
- Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)
- FODI
- forRefugees
- Forth Valley Migrant Support Network
- Freedom from Torture
- Friends of the Earth (England Wales and Northern Ireland)
- furness multicultural community forum
- Furness Refugee Support
- GARAS
- Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
- Glasgow Disability Alliance
- Glitter Cymru
- Global Justice Now
- Global Link
- Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
- Growing Together Levenshulme
- Hackney Stand Up to Racism
- Haringey Welcome
- Hastings Community of Sanctuary
- Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)
- Heanor Baptist Church
- Helen Bamber Foundation
- Herts for Refugees
- HIAS+JCORE
- Hope for Justice
- Human Rights Consortium Scotland
- Human Rights Watch
- Humanist Society Scotland
- Humanists UK
- Humans for rights network
- Ice and Fire Theatre
- Idaraya life CIC
- Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
- Inclusion North CIC
- INQUEST
- International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
- Iraqi Association
- Islington Law Centre
- JCT – Joining Communities Together
- Jesuit Refugee Service UK
- Joanna Project
- Juno Women’s Aid
- Just Fair
- Just Futures Centre for Child, Youth, Family and Community Research,
University of Huddersfield - JustRight Scotland
- Kids in Need of Defense UK
- Latin American Women’s Rights Service
- Law Centres Network
- Learn for Life Enterprise
- Leeds Destitute Asylum-Seekers Support
- LeedsTransVoice
- Legal Aid Practitioners Group
- LGBT Health and Wellbeing
- LGBT Youth Scotland
- Liberty
- Lichfield Quaker Meeting, Staffordshire
- London Friend
- Louth Churches for Refugees
- Macc
- Magic for Smiles
- Making Rights Real
- Manchester BME Network CIC
- Manchester City of Sanctuary
- Manchester Migrant Solidarity
- Manchester Refugee Support Network
- MAP MIDDLESBROUGH
- Maryhill Integration Network
- Medical Justice
- Mermaids
- Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders
- Metropolitan Community Church of North London
- METRO Charity
- Micro Rainbow CIC
- Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU)
- Migrants Organise
- Migrants’ Rights Network
- Muslim Council of Britain
- NACCOM
- National AIDS Trust
- National Autistic Taskforce
- National Board of Catholic Women (NBCW)
- New Europeans UK
- New to the UK (Churches Together in North Shields)
- Newcastle City Council
- Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF)
- Oldham Unity
- One Life To Live
- One Roof Leicester
- Open Door North East
- Our Second Home
- Outside the Box
- Parenting Across Scotland
- Participation and the Practice of Rights
- Partners in Advocacy
- Pendle New Neighbours
- PERN Penrith and Eden Refugee Network
- Phoenix Care Group
- Plan International UK
- Planning Democracy
- Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS)
- Praxis
- Public Law Project
- Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network
- Quakers in Britain
- Rainbow Haven
- Rainbow Migration
- Rape Crisis Scotland
- RealisingRights
- Reclaim the Agenda
- REDRESS Trust
- Refugee Action
- Refugee Council
- Refugee Education UK
- Refugee Welcome Homes
- René Cassin
- ReportOUT
- Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together
- Rethink Rebuild Society
- Right to Remain
- Rights & Choices (Women’s Support Project)
- Rights of Women
- Safe Passage International
- SAYiT
- Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
- Scottish Refugee Council
- Scottish Women’s Aid
- Scottish Youth Parliament
- Simon Community Scotland
- Six Ways Erdington Baptist Church
- SMK Law Solicitors
- Snowdrop Project
- Somali Adult Social Care Agency
- South London Refugee Association
- South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group
- Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)
- Space Youth Project
- St. Vincents Justice & Peace group
- Stand & Be Counted
- Statewatch
- Stories of Hope and Home
- Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
- Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL)
- Tai Pawb
- Tees Valley of Sanctuary
- The Baobab
- The Children’s Society
- The Comfrey Project
- The Hong Kong Scots
- The Hummingbird Refugee Project- Brighton
- The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
- The Kite Trust
- The Methodist Church
- The Paristamen Charity
- The Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS) Project
- The Separated Child Foundation
- The United Reformed Church
- The William Gomes Podcast
- Time to be Out
- Together Now
- Together with Migrant Children
- Together with Refugees Stroud District
- Tulia Group
- Tynemouth Together with Refugees
- Tyneside Welcomes
- UK Black Pride
- Unison
- Unlock Democracy
- Upbeat Communities
- Vauxhall Community Law and Information Centre
- Voices in Exile
- Welfare Scotland
- Welsh Centre for International Affairs
- Welsh Refugee Council
- Wers campaigning group
- West London Welcome
- WISH
- Women for Independence
- Women for Refugee Women
- Women’s Health Matters
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom UK
- Young Roots
https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/statement-rwanda-bill-second-lords-reading-20240130
https://mcb.org.uk/joint-statement-on-the-rwanda-bill/
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/joint-civil-society-statement-rwanda-bill
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/18246/archbishop-welby-attacks-rwanda-bill-in-house-of-lords
27 January 2024: Guardian: Revealed: UK granted asylum to Rwandan refugees while arguing country was safe
Four Rwandans were granted refugee status in the UK over “well-founded” fears of persecution at the same time as the government was arguing in court and parliament that the east African country was a safe place to send asylum seekers.
An investigation by the Observer and the campaign group Led by Donkeys reveals for the first time details of Home Office decisions on Rwandans who have been given asylum in the past four months, claiming they were at risk from the regime.
The documents raise fresh questions over prime minister Rishi Sunak’s claim that Rwanda is “unequivocally” safe for asylum seekers.
They are revealed ahead of this week’s debate in the House of Lords over the proposed new Rwanda bill, which aims to prevent legal challenges to transporting asylum seekers to the African state.
23 January 2024: Hansard: Asylum: UK-Rwanda Agreement
Volume 835: debated on Monday 22 January 2024
Moved by Lord Goldsmith
That this House takes note of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda for the Provision of an Asylum Partnership Agreement to Strengthen Shared International Commitments on the Protection of Refugees and Migrants.
Relevant document: 4th Report from the International Agreements Committee (special attention drawn to the agreement)
Lord Goldsmith: My Lords, there are two Motions in my name on the Order Paper, and I shall speak to both. The first ask the House to take note of the fourth report of the International Agreements Committee, which I have the honour to chair. The report addresses the UK-Rwanda asylum partnership agreement, known as the Rwanda treaty. The second Motion invites the House to agree with the committee’s unanimous conclusion that the Government should not ratify the treaty
“until the protections it provides have been fully implemented, since Parliament is being asked to make a judgement, based on the Agreement, about whether Rwanda is safe”.
9 January 2024: Hansard: Rwanda Plan Cost and Asylum System
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That an Humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that he will be graciously pleased to give direction to the Home Secretary that, no later than 16 January 2024, there be laid before this House:
(a) a list of all payments, either already made or scheduled, to the Government of Rwanda under the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund, including the cost of the fourth- and fifth-year payments due to the Government of Rwanda under the fund;
(b) any document provided by his Department to HM Treasury relating to the per person cost of relocating individuals to Rwanda under the Agreement for the Provision of an Asylum Partnership Agreement to Strengthen Shared International Commitments on the Protection of Refugees and Migrants (CP 994);
(c) an unredacted copy of the confidential memorandum of understanding referred to in response to question 20 at the Public Accounts Committee meeting on 11 December 2023;
(d) any paper setting out the cost per person of relocating individuals to Rwanda and the Government’s assumptions about the number of asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda per year shared with or provided by HM Treasury between March and July 2022; and
(e) his Department’s internal breakdown of the 35,119 non-substantive asylum decisions made between 1 January and 28 December 2023 showing the number of such decisions that were classified as withdrawn asylum applications and the number further sub-classified as either:
(i) non-substantiated withdrawals
(ii) other withdrawals.
16 November 2023: Tribune: The Rwanda Ruling Was a Victory – Here’s Where We Go Next
Yesterday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the government’s Rwanda policy unlawful. It was a victory for the PCS Union and others who initiated the legal challenge — but the fight for dignity for refugees is far from over.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the UK government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful. The court ruled that there was a real risk deported refugees could have their claims wrongly assessed and that they could be returned to their country of origin to face the very persecution which had forced them to flee in the first place.
This was not only a win for the rights of refugees to seek safety in the UK and a stinging political defeat for the Tories — the judgment was also vindication for all workers and campaigners who see the demonisation of refugees for what it is: a ruse to mask the catastrophic failings on living standards overseen by the Tories.
It is not refugees who have driven down wages and starved public services of the resources they need – it is the fault of successive Tory governments who have presided over a decade of brutal austerity cuts.
Read more: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/11/the-rwanda-ruling-was-a-victory-heres-where-we-go-next
15 November 2023: Supreme Court: Court Judgement: In this appeal, the court is required to decide whether the Rwanda policy is lawful
- Conclusion: For the reasons we have explained in our discussion of Issues 2 and 3, at paras 42-105 above, we conclude that the Court of Appeal was correct to reverse the decision of the Divisional Court, and was entitled to find that there are substantial grounds for believing that the removal of the claimants to Rwanda would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment by reason of refoulement. It was accordingly correct to hold that the Secretary of State’s policy is unlawful. The Secretary of State’s appeal is therefore dismissed. For the reasons explained in our discussion of Issue 4, at paras 107-148 above, the cross-appeal by ASM is also dismissed.
Read more: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2023-0093-etc-judgment.pdf