Sunak pins hopes on a new Rwanda asylum pact after supreme court defeat

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1. Rishi Sunak to bring in emergency law after court's Rwanda ruling

Source: The Guardian

Rishi Sunak to bring in emergency law after court’s Rwanda ruling

PM says legislation will ‘confirm’ Rwanda is safe country for asylum seekers – and says he is prepared to defy ECHR if necessary

Rowena Mason Whitehall editor
Wed 15 Nov 2023 20.03 GMT
First published on Wed 15 Nov 2023 17.11 GMT

Rishi Sunak has staked his political credibility on pushing through emergency legislation to resurrect his high-profile plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, after the supreme court ruled it was unlawful.

During a combative press conference on Wednesday afternoon, hastily arranged after the five judges unanimously rejected the proposal, Sunak said legislation would end the “merry-go-round” of legal challenges by setting out in law that the east African country is safe.

Amid increasing pressure from the right of the Conservative party to commit to withdrawing from the European convention on human rights (ECHR), Sunak said he would “not allow a foreign court to block these flights”, but declined to say how.

“I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off. I will not take the easy way out,” the prime minister said, standing at a lectern bearing the “stop the boats” slogan. A parallel plan for a new international treaty with Rwanda would provide “guarantees in law” that people deported from the UK would not be returned to their home countries, he added.

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Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/15/rishi-sunak-to-bring-in-emergency-law-after-courts-rwanda-ruling