Current:Home > MarketsWhat is the U.K. plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda? -WealthGrow Network
What is the U.K. plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda?
View
Date:2025-04-24 22:48:09
London — The British parliament passed a law late Monday that will mean asylum seekers arriving on British shores without prior permission can be sent to Rwanda and forbidden from ever returning to the U.K. The British government says the law will act as deterrent to anyone trying to enter the U.K. "illegally."
The contentious program was voted through after the U.K.'s Supreme Court ruled it to be unlawful, and it has been condemned by human rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency.
King Charles III, who now must give the Rwanda bill his royal ascent to make it an official law, reportedly criticized the plan as "appalling" almost two years ago as it took shape.
Hours after the law was passed, French officials said at least five people drowned, including a child, in the English Channel during an attempt to make it to the U.K. on an overcrowded small boat. Officials later clarified that the five fatalities were caused by a crush among the more than 110 people who had crowded onto the boat. CBS News' partner network BBC News reported Wednesday that British law enforcement had arrested three men in the U.K. in connection with the incident.
Why would the U.K. send asylum seekers to Rwanda?
The Rwanda plan was put together by Britain's Conservative government in response to a number of migrant and asylum seeker arrivals on British shores in small boats from France.
With local asylum programs underfunded and overwhelmed, the government has been housing asylum seekers in hotels, where they are effectively trapped and unable to work until their claims are processed, which can take years. These hotels cost the government around 8 million pounds — almost $10 million in taxpayer money — every day to rent, according to CBS News partner BBC News.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government says the Rwanda policy will act as a deterrent to prevent migrants and asylum seekers from trying to reach the U.K. in the first place.
What is the U.K.'s Rwanda law?
The new policy will give Britain's immigration authorities power to send any asylum seeker entering the U.K. "illegally" after January 2022 to Rwanda. Those individuals can also be forbidden from ever applying for asylum in the U.K.
It will apply to anyone who arrives in the U.K. without prior permission — anyone who travels on a small boat or truck — even if their aim is to claim asylum and they have legitimate grounds to do so.
These people can, under the new law, be immediately sent to Rwanda, 4,000 miles away in East Africa, to have their asylum claim processed there. Under the law they could be granted refugee status in Rwanda and allowed to stay.
What are the issues with the Rwanda law?
The law has been the subject of intense controversy and political wrangling.
In November 2023, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled the program was unlawful and violated the European Convention on Human Rights, because it said genuine refugees would be at risk of being deported back to their home countries, where they could face harm. The judgment also cited concerns with Rwanda's human rights record.
The final legislation passed late Monday orders the court to ignore parts of the Human Rights Act and other U.K. and international rules, such as the Refugee Convention, that would also block the deportations to Rwanda, the BBC reported.
Rights groups have said they will launch legal challenges against deporting people to Rwanda as quickly as possible. This could delay any removal flights.
- In:
- Immigration
- Rishi Sunak
- Rwanda
- Britain
- Refugee
- Asylum Seekers
- Migrants
- United Kingdom
Haley Ott is the CBS News Digital international reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau.
Twitter InstagramveryGood! (29452)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Trump's bond set at $200,000 in Fulton County election case
- New Mexico State preaches anti-hazing message as student-athletes return for fall season
- Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcome second child, reports say
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Untangling Ariana Grande and Scooter Braun's Status Amid Demi Lovato's Management Exit
- UW System to ask lawmakers for part of $32 million GOP withheld to end diversity efforts in October
- Pennsylvania agrees to start publicly reporting problems with voting machines
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Will AI take over the world? How to stay relevant if it begins replacing jobs. Ask HR
Ranking
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Tropical Storm Harold forms in Gulf, immediately heads for Texas
- 'Get out of my house': Video shows mother of Kansas newspaper publisher confronting cops
- A Pennsylvania court says state police can’t hide how it monitors social media
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Man, 86, accused of assuming dead brother’s identity in 1965 convicted of several charges
- When does 'The Voice' Season 24 come out? Premiere date, coaches, how to watch
- Horoscopes Today, August 22, 2023
Recommendation
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
2 injured in shooting at Alabama A&M campus
Sha’Carri Richardson wins 100, claims fastest woman in world title
Highway through Washington’s North Cascades National Park to reopen as fires keep burning
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
WATCH: Commanders owner Josh Harris awkwardly shakes Joe Buck's hand, Troy Aikman laughs on ESPN
Watch these firefighters go above and beyond to save a pup from the clutches of a wildfire
House panel subpoenas senior IRS officials over Hunter Biden tax case