James Cleverly, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, is scheduled to arrive in Rwanda on Tuesday to sign a new treaty that would transfer asylum seekers to the African nation. This comes after the highest court in the United Kingdom ruled that the deportation program was unconstitutional.
Other countries that are believed to be considering policies similar to Rwanda’s are closely monitoring the Rwandan plan, which is at the center of the government’s attempt to reduce migration.
Last month, however, the United Kingdom Supreme Court concluded that the flights would violate international human rights norms embedded in local statutes.
Following the decision, the United Kingdom has been making efforts to revise its agreement with Rwanda to incorporate a legally binding treaty that guarantees Rwanda will not remove asylum seekers brought there by the United Kingdom. This is one of the primary concerns of the court.
On Tuesday morning, Cleverly will depart for Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to sign the agreement. He will meet with Vincent Biruta, the foreign minister of Rwanda, to sign the document together.
“Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together to tackle the global challenge of illegal migration,” Cleverly says.
With the implementation of this plan, the United Kingdom aims to transfer thousands of asylum seekers who arrived on its beaches without authorization to Rwanda. This discourages migrants from crossing the Channel from Europe in tiny boats.
In exchange, Rwanda has been given an initial payment of 140 million pounds, equivalent to 180 million dollars, along with the promise of additional funds to cover the costs of housing and medical treatment for any deported persons.
Intense pressure is being put on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reduce net migration, which reached a record 745,000 in the previous year, and to put a halt to the flow of asylum seekers who pay people smugglers for their crossings of the Channel, which sometimes take place in boats that are overloaded and that are not seaworthy.
On Monday, the government made public its intention to reduce the number of migrants who enter the country through legal channels by increasing the minimum wage required to earn in a skilled occupation.
Additionally, it is anticipated that ministers will shortly issue new legislation declaring Rwanda a so-called safe nation. This law is intended to prevent legal objections against scheduled deportation flights.
“Stop the boats” is one of the five objectives that Sunak has set for his government in advance of the national election that is anticipated to take place in 2012.
Because there was a possibility that deported refugees would have their claims incorrectly evaluated or that they would be sent back to their country of origin to face persecution, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that the government’s plan to transfer asylum applicants to Rwanda was illegal.
According to the court, the scheme violated international commitments, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Status of Former Members of the United Nations.
As a result of the developing conflicts within the Conservative Party about how to react, several members of parliament are exerting pressure on the government to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, which had previously prevented deportation flights from departing.
Following the record number of 45,755 individuals discovered in 2022, this year, around 29,000 people landed on the southern coast of England without authority.
Even though former Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially declared the Rwanda policy the previous year, no asylum seekers have moved to the nation yet.
Conservatives, opposition MPs, religious leaders, and the United Nations refugee agency have all criticized the program. These individuals have stated that the strategy is defective, that it is a waste of money, that it is unethical, and that it simply will not work.
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