![Article](/sites/www.sallyannhart.org.uk/files/styles/gallery_large/public/news-gallery/letters_33.jpg?itok=Dqlxks-8)
Last week marked a significant step forward in Rishi Sunak’s plan to stop the boats and save lives by deterring people with no right to be here from making dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys across the Channel. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 is now law and is already in force because the UK and Rwanda have ratified the UK - Rwanda Treaty for the Provision of an Asylum Partnership.
The UK’s partnership with Rwanda is one tool in the Government’s wider action to put a stop to the people smuggling trade, targeting the gangs and breaking their business model through leveraging international cooperation and innovative disruption tactics. We know that deterrence can work – we have seen that through the Albania partnership where the numbers of small boat arrivals of Albanians have dropped by 93%.
I have found it rather disconcerting over recent months to hear criticism of the Rwanda plan from a few of my own colleagues agreeing with Labour’s flabby assertions that the Rwanda scheme is unworkable. Last week, with votes late into Monday evening and Tuesday morning, the Conservatives finally managed to overcome Labour’s opposition to stopping illegal migration and we got our Safety of Rwanda Bill through. Furthermore, far from the scheme being ‘unworkable’, it may already be a deterrent; Ireland has claimed it has been inundated over recent months by thousands of asylum seekers leaving the UK for Ireland in anticipation of the Safety of Rwanda Act coming into force, crossing through the open border that Ireland insisted upon in the Brexit negotiations.
Illegal migration is also a major issue across Europe. Failing to act carries significant social and economic costs and it is interesting to note that the EU centre-right European People’s Party now backs Rwanda-style deportation agreements for asylum seekers. Social unrest is spreading across Europe and economic costs are high; for UK taxpayers, the cost of housing asylum seekers is set to reach £11 billion per year by 2026. Only by removing the prospect that illegal migrants can settle in the UK can we control our borders.
The treaty with Rwanda, signed on 5 December 2023, addresses the findings of the UK Supreme Court on the risk of refoulement for those relocated to Rwanda. The Government of Rwanda has been clear throughout that it remains equally as committed to delivery of this partnership as the UK, and it has expedited the implementation of a number of key treaty provisions, including introducing a specialist asylum appeals tribunal to consider individual appeals against refused asylum claims, ensuring the final determination of any such claim is objective and impartial. The Rwandan Government has also agreed a range of operating procedures with the UK Government, detailing how the provisions under the treaty will be delivered in practice. This includes processes for safeguarding vulnerable individuals and accessing the comprehensive medical support package available to relocated individuals.
The assurances in the treaty, alongside ongoing work to strengthen Rwanda’s asylum system and operational readiness since the evidential position considered by the courts in summer 2022, are sufficient to conclude that Rwanda is safe for relocated individuals. In passing the Safety of Rwanda Act, Parliament has reached the same conclusion.
Going forward, decision-makers will be required to treat Rwanda as a generally safe country for the purpose of relocating individuals. The Safety of Rwanda Act prevents UK courts and tribunals from delaying or preventing a person’s removal to Rwanda on matters relating only to the general safety of Rwanda, allowing for a narrow route to individual challenge to ensure that the courts will interpret the relevant provisions in accordance with the will of Parliament. Individuals with no right to be in the UK will no longer be able to frustrate removal attempts using a merry-go-round of spurious legal challenges, as has far too often been the case.
The Government has now taken steps to ensure flights to Rwanda leave as soon as possible - the sooner people are relocated to Rwanda, the faster we can disrupt the business model of smuggling gangs and demonstrate that making dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary journeys to the UK is not a viable means of entry to the UK asylum system.