Rwanda Bill to become law in major illegal migration milestone
UK government efforts to stop the boats and tackle illegal migration took a major step forward, after the Safety of Rwanda Bill completed its passage through Parliament overnight, Monday 22 April, reads a press release of the UK Government.
The Bill’s passing means the government can enter the final phase of operational planning to get flights off the ground to Rwanda, pioneering a new response to the global challenge of illegal migration.
Robust operational plans are in place to ensure a first flight to Rwanda can be delivered within 10-12 weeks, with multiple flights set to take off after this.
The landmark legislation means that going forward, Rwanda should be deemed a safe country for the purposes of relocating people, including in UK courts and tribunals.
It will prevent legal challenges from being used to delay or halt a person’s removal to Rwanda on the grounds that Rwanda is generally unsafe, or that an individual will be returned to an unsafe country after removal to Rwanda – an act known as refoulement.
The Bill makes it unambiguously clear that UK Parliament is sovereign, and the validity of any Act of Parliament is unaffected by international law. Ministers will be able to retain the decision on whether to comply with interim measures from the European Court of Human Rights, for example, a Rule 39 injunction.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the lawfulness of resettling illegal migrants for the purposes of determining their asylum claims, but required more assurance that they would not be refouled.
The internationally binding Treaty between Rwanda and the UK was announced by the Government in response to this finding and introduces measures to make clear Rwanda will not return anyone to an unsafe country.
Under the Treaty, Rwanda has also introduced a strengthened end-to-end asylum system, including a new, specialist asylum appeals tribunal to consider individual appeals against any refused claims. It will have two co-presidents, from Rwanda and from another Commonwealth country, and be made up of judges from a mix of nations.
