Sunak To Implement Rwanda Deportation Policy Despite 'Unlawful' Court Ruling

On Monday, the newly appointed Home Secretary James Cleverly, told the House of Commons that the UK government is determined to go ahead with the Rwanda policy, despite the plan being ruled unlawful by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Despite the Rwanda plan being called a "real risk" to the safety of asylum seekers by Lord Reed, the President of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised an emergency new treaty with Rwanda.

Once implemented, the Rwanda policy will see all undocumented asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK through the English Channel deported to Rwanda, where they are subject to possible persecution and further deportation to their home countries.

While Downing Street has refused to say whether a new pact has been made with Kigali, Rwanda's capital, Lawmakers were addressed by Cleverly, who declared: "The Rwanda scheme is an incredibly important part of the basket of responses that we have."

The Prime Minister's spokesperson said that confirmation will "be published in the coming weeks".

"I think people understand that following the judgment, which was relatively recently, it's right to ensure we have the strongest possible position because we want both the treaty and the Bill to have the best possible chance of success and that's why we are focused on finalising these details," the spokesperson added.

Ahead of the 'unlawful' ruling of the Rwanda policy at the Supreme Court, at a Conservative conference, Sunak emphasised his commitment to the bill, saying: "Know this; I will do whatever is necessary to stop the boats."

The Deputy Chairman of the Tory Party, Lee Anderson, supported Sunak's rebellion and ordered the government to "ignore the laws" and to "just put the planes in the air now and send them to Rwanda".

MPs have since delayed Sunak's controversial move, noting that the emergency policy was not a "silver bullet" in stopping the Channel arrivals.

This news comes after official studies found that net migration into the UK reached an all-time high last year – measuring 745,000 people.

As part of Sunak's 'stop the boats' campaign, Cleverly added: "I will do everything to ensure that we drive down small boat arrivals."

Following her sacking, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman urged the Conservative Government to "act now" against the "unsustainable" migration numbers.

Braverman pointed the finger at Sunak while calling the record net migration figures "a slap in the face to the British public who have voted to control and reduce migration at every opportunity".

"Brexit gave us tools. It's time to use them," she declared.

Pushing ahead with the Rwanda policy "is the promise that we have made to the British people and that is the commitment that I will deliver," Cleverly warned.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick also told MPs that the fresh emergency Rwanda bill will be implemented "shortly" to make sure that "flights to Rwanda take off as a matter of urgency".

"So far this year we've reduced the number of these dangerous, illegal and completely unnecessary crossings by more than a third compared to last year, despite increases of nearly a third in Europe," Jenrick revealed.

However, "the numbers of illegal arrivals remain unacceptably high", said the Immigration Minister, going on to note that the government "remain focused on delivering our comprehensive plan to stop the boats".

The government have been working through strategies that set out to break the businesses of people smugglers "and will shortly be piloting emergency legislation through this House to ensure flights to Rwanda take off as a matter of urgency", Jenrick also confirmed.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer responded to Sunak's relentless push for the Rwanda policy by dubbing it a "ridiculous, pathetic spectacle".

Labour's Shadow Secretary also criticised the government for their "complete failure", noting that the Conservative Party had already spent £140m of taxpayers' money on the policy.

That is "money we can't get back now", she said.