Category Archives: Rwanda

Lords pass five amendments to Rwanda bill in heavy defeat for Rishi Sunak

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Peers, including senior Tories, vote by margins of about 100 votes for changes to legislation, which will have to go back to Commons

Rishi Sunak has suffered his heaviest defeat in the House of Lords after the archbishop of Canterbury and former Conservative ministers joined forces with the opposition to force through five amendments to the Rwandan deportation bill.

The string of government setbacks, most passed by unusually large margins of about 100 votes, means the legislation, which aims to clear the way to send asylum seekers on a one-way flight to Kigali, will have to go back to the Commons.

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Sunak suffers defeats in House of Lords over Rwanda bill – as it happened

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Prime minister suffers defeats in House of Lords over Rwanda bill. This live blog is closed

There will be one urgent question in the Commons today at 3.30pm, on the Home Office’s decision to publish 13 reports from the former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration last week on Thursday afternoon.

The former minister Paul Scully has announced he will stand down at the next election in a statement suggesting the Conservative party has “lost its way” and is heading down “an ideological cul-de-sac”.

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Rwanda plan to cost UK £1.8m for each asylum seeker, figures show

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Disclosure, calculated on basis of 300 deportations, called ‘staggering’ by chair of home affairs committee

Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will cost taxpayers £1.8m for each of the first 300 people the government deports to Kigali, Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has disclosed.

The overall cost of the scheme stands at more than half a billion pounds, according to the figures released to the National Audit Office. Even if the UK sends nobody to the central African state, Sunak has signed up to pay £370m from the public purse over the five-year deal.

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The wanted: Australia’s approach to investigating alleged international crimes ‘not working’, Greens say

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David Shoebridge’s comments follow Guardian/Four Corners investigation that revealed Rwanda issued indictments for two men living in Australia it accused of participating in genocide

Australia’s current approach to investigating and prosecuting allegations of serious international crimes “is not working”, the Greens defence and justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge has said.

Legal experts and former prosecutors have said Australia needs a specialist investigations unit to look into allegations of international crimes such as genocide, or it risks becoming a “safe haven”.

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Rwanda’s sacking of footballer adds to fears over UK’s ‘immoral’ asylum seekers plan

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The suspension of a Congolese player for a gun gesture referring to conflict in DRC raises questions over goverment’s refugee policy

When a Congolese footballer made a brief gesture after scoring in an east African league match last weekend, it felt like little more than a talking point among the spectators.

Yet the gesture by midfielder Héritier Luvumbu at the game in Kigali has prompted a dramatic reaction from Rwanda that has renewed scrutiny of a regime accused of stoking the world’s deadliest conflict as it enters a volatile new phase.

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Canadian federal police officer charged with passing information to a ‘foreign entity’

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Eli Ndatuje of Royal Canadian Mounted Police was charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government

A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been arrested and charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government.

The federal police force said on Tuesday that its integrated national security enforcement team (Inset) had arrested Constable Eli Ndatuje, who was stationed in Alberta.

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UK’s Rwanda bill ‘incompatible with human rights obligations’

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Damning report by MPs warns policy places UK’s reputation for rule of law and human rights ‘in jeopardy’

The UK government’s controversial Rwanda legislation that deems the African country as a safe place to deport people to is fundamentally incompatible with Britain’s human rights obligations and places it in breach of international law, according to a damning parliamentary report.

MPs and peers from the cross-party joint committee on human rights have delivered a critical analysis of the safety of Rwanda bill, which is progressing at speed through parliament.

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Council of Europe calls on UK not to process asylum claims in Rwanda

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People may be exposed to abuses such as torture and degrading treatment in Rwanda, says watchdog

Europe’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.

In a report published on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment raises a litany of concerns after an 11-day visit to the UK in March and April last year.

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Sunak ‘out of touch’ for betting £1,000 on Rwanda plan’s success, says Labour

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PM also criticised for saying ‘the facts speak for themselves’ when asked if Keir Starmer was a terrorist sympathiser

Rishi Sunak has been called “out of touch” after taking a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda will take off before the general election.

Morgan said to the prime minister on TalkTV: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”

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Dublin not expecting EU objections to new trade rules for Northern Ireland – UK politics live

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Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’

Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.

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More than 30,000 UK asylum seekers on bail under Rwanda deportation threat

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Home Office reveals 33,085 will not have claims examined while government tries to remove them

More than 30,000 asylum seekers are on bail and under the threat of deportation from the UK to Rwanda, the Home Office has disclosed, as James Cleverly insisted that the total backlog of 94,000 cases should instead be referred to as a queue.

A senior official has admitted for the first time that 33,085 people who arrived in the UK by irregular means such as small boats will not have their asylum claims examined while the government attempts to remove them from the UK.

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Nicola Sturgeon regarded Boris Johnson as ‘a clown’ because of his handling of Covid, inquiry learns – UK politics live

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Former Scotland first minister used expletives in private messages about former UK PM’s handling of pandemic

At the Covid inquiry hearing in Edinburgh Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon’s former chief of staff, was asked about her wanting a row with the UK government. (See 11.35am.)

Asked if she was looking for a spat, Lloyd replied:

I was looking for a spat with a purpose.

It had been shown in the past that they would sometimes change their mind if they felt that pressure and I wanted them to change their mind.

Sturgeon said his address was “fucking excruciating” and that the UK communications were “awful”. Sturgeon also told Lloyd: “His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere.”

Lloyd said she was “offended” on behalf of special advisers everywhere. Sturgeon replied: “He is a fucking clown.”

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Exiled Rwandan who survived murder attempt condemns UK deportation plan

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Opposition politician Frank Ntwali says country is unsafe and Sunak’s pursuance of policy ‘quite bizarre’

A Rwandan opposition politician who narrowly survived an assassination attempt has condemned the UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Kigali.

Frank Ntwali, chair of the exiled Rwanda National Congress (RNC) movement, said the country was unsafe and that Rishi Sunak’s persistence with the policy was “quite bizarre”.

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Home Office hires hangar for staff to practise Rwanda deportations

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Officials will be taught how to carry out deportations, including how to handle people who physically resist

The Home Office has hired an aircraft hangar and aeroplane body to train security staff on how to deport people, as the UK government increases the number of people it forcibly removes each year.

Officials confirmed on Friday the department had increased its capacity to train officials to carry out deportations, including how to handle people who physically resist. Details of the expansion of the programme were first reported by the Times.

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Rishi Sunak faces more questions over Rwanda plan amid reports Home Office prepared protest scenarios – UK politics live

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Home Office reportedly hired hangar and aircraft fuselage to rehearse forcing people onto flights as Ruth Davidson says they are ‘probably never going to happen’

The European court of human rights (ECHR) has issued a press release stating that Ireland has lodged an inter-state application against the UK over the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

In its release, it says:

The Irish Government argue that certain provisions of the act are not compatible with the European Convention. The Irish Government allege, in particular, that sections 19, 39, 40 and 41 of the act guarantee immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences, provided that certain conditions are met, contrary to [articles of the convention]

The Northern Ireland Troubles (legacy and reconciliation) bill was introduced by Boris Johnson’s administration in 2021 and became law in September. The government said it would draw a line under a conflict that killed more than 3,600 people from 1969 to 1998 and left thousands of cases unresolved. The legislation offers immunity to security force veterans and former paramilitaries who cooperate with a new commission for reconciliation and information recovery.

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Rishi Sunak challenges House of Lords to accept ‘the will of the people’ and pass Rwanda bill – UK politics live

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Prime minister says he wants first flight to leave ‘as soon as practicably possible’ but will not give date

Q: When you said you would stop the boats, people thought that meant reducing them to negligble numbers. That is not going to happen, is it?

Sunak says he is proud of the progress he has made. He always said it would be difficult.

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Middle East conflicts and the Rwanda bill – Politics Weekly UK podcast

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As tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, this week John Harris speaks to Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch about the regional conflicts. The Rwanda bill passed its third reading and Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, reveals what happened behind the scenes. And the former No 10 adviser Gavin Barwell talks about the increasingly vicious struggles within the Conservative party

Archive: GB News

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Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill passes third reading in Commons

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Flagship policy passes committee stage after tense lead-up in which Tory divisions came to the fore

Rishi Sunak has survived a damaging row over his flagship Rwanda bill after a Conservative rebellion melted away and dozens of rightwing MPs balked at further undermining the prime minister’s authority.

After a crucial 11th hour meeting of more than 45 Tory rebels, the group’s leaders concluded that defeating the bill by voting alongside Labour during an election year could risk collapsing the government.

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Rwanda bill vote: Tory rebels have not shown amendments are legally robust, No 10 says – live

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Sunak’s press secretary says Downing Street not shown legal basis for rebel amendments, despite this being offered and asked for

Rishi Sunak starts with the usual spiel about his engagements, and how he has got meetings with colleagues.

Rishi Sunak is taking PMQs in 10 minutes.

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Rwanda president: efforts to implement asylum plan cannot ‘drag on’

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Paul Kagame also says he would be happy for the scheme to be scrapped

Rwanda’s president has said there are limits to how long attempts to implement an asylum deal with Britain can “drag on”, indicating he would be happy for the scheme to be scrapped.

Paul Kagame’s comments on Wednesday came before Rishi Sunak faced a potentially leadership-ending rebellion by Conservative MPs threatening to vote down his Rwanda deportation bill on Wednesday night.

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