UK: MPs must vote against 'historically bad' Rwanda Bill

Amnesty International is strongly urging MPs to vote against the Government’s Rwanda bill when it returns to the Commons today and put an end to the all-out attack on refugees and the UK’s Human Rights Act. 

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:

“This historically bad Bill is yet more evidence that the Government has lost of sight of its obligation to protect the rights of refugees, abide by judicial rulings and uphold the rule of law.

“The Government should respect the Supreme Court ruling and stop all attempts to force courts to ignore Rwanda’s troubling human rights record. Seeking to dictate what the facts are to independent courts is a threat to everyone’s human rights, and to the UK’s global standing.

“It’s totally wrong that the Government is proposing to essentially ‘switch off’ the human rights of refugees because it has found them an inconvenience to a fundamentally flawed policy.

“It’s time for the Government to accept the reality that Rwanda is not a safe place to send people seeking asylum and get down to the serious task of fairly and efficiently deciding people’s asylum claims.

“We are urging MPs in the strongest terms to take a stand and vote against this meritless Bill.”