UK passes bill to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

UK passes bill to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

Lawyers prepare for legal battles on behalf of individual asylum seekers challenging removal to east Africa

Rajeev Syal, Kiran Stacey and Tom Ambrose
Tue 23 Apr 2024 00.42 BST
First published on Mon 22 Apr 2024 23.51 BST

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill will become law after peers eventually backed down on amending it, opening the way for legal battles over the potential removal of dozens of people seeking asylum.

After a marathon battle of “ping pong” over the key legislation between the Commons and the Lords, the bill finally passed when opposition and crossbench peers gave way on Monday night.

The bill is expected to be granted royal assent on Tuesday. Home Office sources said they have already identified a group of asylum seekers with weak legal claims to remain in the UK who will be part of the first tranche to be sent to east Africa in July.

Sunak has put the bill, which would deport asylum seekers who arrive in the UK by irregular means to Kigali, at the centre of his attempts to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/22/rwanda-deportations-bill-passes-parliament-sunak

[70sEraVet]

1. This absurd cruelty sounds like something our Republicans would dream up

The sanest statement in this article:

Meanwhile, leading lawyer and independent crossbencher Lord Anderson of Ipswich said of the Rwanda scheme: “Its benefits remain to be seen. Its costs will be measured, not only in money, but in principles debased: disregard for our international commitments, avoiding statutory protections for the vulnerable, and the removal of judicial scrutiny over the core issue of the safety of Rwanda.”

[Voltaire2]

2. Too bad there isn't a train route to Rwanda

The full symbolism of this fascist idiocy would be accomplished by loading the victims into boxcars for transport.