Sunak pins hopes on a new Rwanda asylum pact after supreme court defeat

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Sunak pins hopes on a new Rwanda asylum pact after supreme court defeat

Whitehall sources say it could take more than a year for any treaty to be passed, with next election looming

Rajeev Syal and Ignatius Ssuuna
Wed 15 Nov 2023 15.27 GMT
First published on Wed 15 Nov 2023 15.08 GMT

Rishi Sunak is attempting to finalise a new pact with Rwanda after a central plank of the British government’s immigration plans was ripped up by the supreme court.

A treaty, which would have to be ratified by the UK parliament, was being drawn up with the government in Kigali, the prime minister said.

Whitehall sources said it could take more than a year for a treaty to be passed and then go through legal challenges in the courts. This would mean that flights may not take off for Rwanda under any new treaty before the next election.

It comes after five judges at the supreme court unanimously rejected the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to the east African country. Deportation flights to Kigali will not take off despite the UK handing over more than £140m for a policy that has been stalled during more than a year of legal challenges.

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Read more: https://archive.li/hvY5o

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/15/rishi-sunak-new-rwanda-asylum-pact-supreme-court-defeat

[Eugene]

1. Rishi Sunak to bring in emergency law after court's Rwanda ruling

Source: The Guardian

Rishi Sunak to bring in emergency law after court’s Rwanda ruling

PM says legislation will ‘confirm’ Rwanda is safe country for asylum seekers – and says he is prepared to defy ECHR if necessary

Rowena Mason Whitehall editor
Wed 15 Nov 2023 20.03 GMT
First published on Wed 15 Nov 2023 17.11 GMT

Rishi Sunak has staked his political credibility on pushing through emergency legislation to resurrect his high-profile plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, after the supreme court ruled it was unlawful.

During a combative press conference on Wednesday afternoon, hastily arranged after the five judges unanimously rejected the proposal, Sunak said legislation would end the “merry-go-round” of legal challenges by setting out in law that the east African country is safe.

Amid increasing pressure from the right of the Conservative party to commit to withdrawing from the European convention on human rights (ECHR), Sunak said he would “not allow a foreign court to block these flights”, but declined to say how.

“I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off. I will not take the easy way out,” the prime minister said, standing at a lectern bearing the “stop the boats” slogan. A parallel plan for a new international treaty with Rwanda would provide “guarantees in law” that people deported from the UK would not be returned to their home countries, he added.

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Read more: https://archive.li/mByUA

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/15/rishi-sunak-to-bring-in-emergency-law-after-courts-rwanda-ruling

[LeftishBrit]

2. No doubt the RW media...

will portray the judges as 'Enemies of the People'.

Not for the first time.