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- SNP lawmaker Joanna Cherry said the bill 鈥榬isks untold damage to the UK鈥檚 reputation as a proponent of human rights鈥�
- Home Office said the Rwanda plan is a 鈥榖old and innovative鈥� solution to a 鈥榤ajor global challenge鈥�
LONDON: The British government鈥檚 plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is 鈥渇undamentally incompatible鈥� with the UK鈥檚 human rights obligations, a parliamentary rights watchdog said Monday, as the contentious bill returned for debate in the House of Lords.
Parliament鈥檚 unelected upper chamber is scrutinizing a bill designed to overcome the UK Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling that the Rwanda plan is illegal. The court said in November that the East African nation is not a safe country for migrants.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill pronounces the country safe, makes it harder for migrants to challenge deportation and allows the British government to ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights that seek to block removals.
Parliament鈥檚 Joint Committee on Human Rights, which has members from both government and opposition parties, said in a report that the bill 鈥渙penly invites the possibility of the UK breaching international law鈥� and allows British officials 鈥渢o act in a manner that is incompatible with human rights standards.鈥�
Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the bill 鈥渞isks untold damage to the UK鈥檚 reputation as a proponent of human rights.鈥�
鈥淭his bill is designed to remove vital safeguards against persecution and human rights abuses, including the fundamental right to access a court,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ostility to human rights is at its heart and no amendments can salvage it.鈥�
The Home Office said the Rwanda plan is a 鈥渂old and innovative鈥� solution to a 鈥渕ajor global challenge.鈥�
鈥淩wanda is clearly a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees,鈥� it said in a statement. 鈥淚t hosts more than 135,000 asylum seekers and stands ready to relocate people and help them rebuild their lives.鈥�
Under the policy, asylum-seekers who reach the UK in small boats across the English Channel would have their claims processed in Rwanda, and stay there permanently. The plan is key to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak鈥檚 pledge to 鈥渟top the boats鈥� bringing unauthorized migrants to the UK Sunak argues that deporting unauthorized asylum-seekers will deter people from making risky journeys and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.
Human rights groups call the plan inhumane and unworkable, and no one has yet been sent to Rwanda.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak鈥檚 Conservative government argues the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe destination.
The bill was approved by the House of Commons last month, though only after 60 members of Sunak鈥檚 governing Conservatives rebelled in an effort to make the legislation tougher.
It is now being scrutinized by the Lords, many of whom want to defeat or water down the bill. Unlike the Commons, the governing Conservatives do not hold a majority of seats in the Lords.
Ultimately, the upper house can delay and amend legislation but can鈥檛 overrule the elected Commons.