UK: Rwanda Bill vote is 'bitterly disappointing'

In response to the Commons vote on the Rwanda Bill, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:   

“This historically-bad Bill should never have seen the light of day in the first place and it’s bitterly disappointing to see it pass through the Commons.

“A shameful policy of refusing to process people’s asylum claims and instead shunting them off to an unsafe country thousands of miles away rips up the international rule book and needs to be stopped.

“It’s been disturbing to hear ministers repeatedly undermining basic human rights protections – including vital safeguards like the European Convention and the Human Rights Act - in their attempts to justify this deeply authoritarian Bill. Courts’ ability to check the lawfulness of Government action is not an illegitimate inconvenience, but a fundamental part of a democratic and free society.

“We very much hope the House of Lords will now block this Bill, and that even this profoundly anti-refugee Government will then get back to the important business of fairly and efficiently deciding people’s asylum claims.”