Consortium joins 251 organisations to express outrage at 'Safety of Rwanda' Bill

Consortium joins 251 organisations to express outrage at 'Safety of Rwanda' Bill

Following the passage of the UK Parliament’s ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Bill, the Consortium has joined 251 civil society organisations from across the UK, to express our outrage.

The letter, addressed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and written by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, calls the Bill a "shameful and performatively cruel law that will risk people's lives."

The UK Government first announced plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda back in 2022, but the plan has faced legal challenges on human rights grounds. The plan violates the principle of universality- that all our human rights belong to everyone regardless of where they come from- and the principle of 'non-refoulement'. Non-refoulement guarantees that states will not return asylum seekers to countries where they may face torture, cruel treatment or other serious human rights violations.

The UK Supreme Court has already ruled that Rwanda is not a safe country to send asylum seekers on this basis.

However, on 22nd April 2024, the UK Parliament passed the 'Safety of Rwanda' Bill (soon to become an Act of Parliament) which compels courts to ignore this ruling and other pieces of legislation (such as the Human Rights Act and international law) which would block the Rwanda flights. It therefore allows the Government to forcibly expel people seeking asylum in the UK, even though they face a grave risk of harm and human rights abuses.

The Rwanda Act is an unacceptable, outrageous attack on human rights.

Click here to read the letter in full

Click here to read a BBC explainer on the history of the Rwanda Act