Rishi Sunak - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

UK’s Rwanda plan: Which other nations send asylum seekers abroad?

THE British parliament has passed a divisive law to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promising that flights will take off by July, but legal hurdles could yet hold up or delay the policy. The "Safety of Rwanda" bill aims to cut immigration by deterring migrants from arriving without permission, but refugee rights groups say it criminalises genuine asylum seekers, and Britain's Supreme Court ruled last year that the East African nation was not a safe country to send people. Sunak has invested huge political capital in the Rwanda scheme, promising that it will stop tens of thousands of people arriving without…

Apr

2024

By LUCY MIDDLETON

Is Rwanda a safe place to send LGBTQ+ asylum seekers from the UK?

NEWS

LGBTQ+ rights groups are concerned that gay, bisexual, and transgender refugees could face discrimination and abuse if they are sent to Rwanda under Britain's policy to deport asylum seekers to the East African nation. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks as the upper house of parliament finally passed the required legislation, delayed for weeks by attempts to alter the contentious plan. As LGBTQ+ rights groups criticise the plan, Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson said on Tuesday that "openly gay" asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda. "It is not unlawful to be…

Apr

2024

By MICHAEL HOLDEN

What is UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks after parliament passed much-delayed legislation to facilitate the deportation of those arriving in Britain without permission. Last November, the Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful but Sunak says the new law overrides any legal concerns and will thus fulfil his pledge to stop people arriving across the Channel in small boats. Here are details about the plan and the migration issue: WHY IS IMMIGRATION SUCH AN ISSUE IN BRITAIN? Taking back control of Britain's borders and ending the free movement of people into the…

Apr

2024

By KATE HOLTON

UK’s Sunak says nothing will stop Rwanda policy; migrants die in channel

NEWS

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that nothing would prevent him from sending asylum seekers to Rwanda after parliament finally approved the divisive policy that is designed to deter migrants from travelling in small boats to Britain. Hours after the bill passed, a French newspaper reported that at least five migrants had died in an attempt to cross the Channel. The French coast guard could not confirm the details but said there were several "lifeless bodies". Tens of thousands of migrants - many fleeing wars and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia - have reached Britain in recent years by…

Apr

2024

By SARAH YOUNG and ELIZABETH PIPER

‘No ifs, no buts’, UK’s Sunak promises to start Rwanda flights

NEWS

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks, telling the upper house of parliament he would force the new legislation through despite its opposition to the plan. Sunak said the government had booked commercial charter planes and trained staff to take migrants to Rwanda, a policy he hopes will boost his Conservative Party's flagging fortunes before an election later this year. After weeks of opposition in the House of Lords upper house which wants to introduce safeguards to the divisive legislation, Sunak said the government would force parliament to sit…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

UK parliament’s upper house delays Sunak’s Rwanda scheme again

NEWS

BRITAIN'S upper house of parliament again defeated Rishi Sunak's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, proposing changes that will delay but not block a policy the prime minister hopes could help change his party's electoral fortunes. Sunak has invested huge political capital in the Rwanda scheme before an election later this year he is predicted to lose, saying it will help meet his pledge to stop thousands of people arriving in Britain without permission in small boats. The House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper house, for a third time sought to make changes to the new legislation after the…

Apr

2024

By ANDREW MACASKILL and MICHAEL HOLDEN

British PM Sunak’s Rwanda scheme set to pass parliament but challenges await

NEWS

THE British parliament is set to finally approve a divisive law this week to pave the way for asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda, but further legal hurdles could yet hold up or derail one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's key policies. Sunak has invested huge political capital in the Rwanda scheme whose success or failure might be crucial to his Conservative party's fortunes in an upcoming election, given his promise it will stop tens of thousands of people arriving without permission in small boats across the Channel. The new legislation is poised to get lawmakers' approval, unamended, by…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

UK’s Rwanda asylum legislation to return to parliament after Easter

NEWS

LEGISLATION that seeks to block further court challenges to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda will next be debated in parliament on April 15. The government wants to relocate thousands of asylum seekers who arrive in Britain on small, inflatable boats each year to live in Rwanda, but legal challenges have so far prevented anyone being sent to the East African country yet. To overcome objections by the court, Sunak's government is passing the bill that declares Rwanda a safe country for asylum seekers and disapplies parts of human rights law in an attempt…

Mar

2024

By ANDREW MACASKILL

UK plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda suffers first parliamentary defeats

NEWS

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered his first defeat over his legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after the upper house of parliament demanded greater protections to be introduced before deportation flights can take off. Under the Rwanda plan, which has yet to be carried out, asylum seekers who arrive on England's southern coast in small, inflatable boats would be sent to live in Rwanda, but so far no one has been deported because of ongoing legal challenges. In an effort to overcome resistance from the courts, Sunak's government is passing legislation through parliament that would block further legal challenges…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

UK PM Sunak makes transgender jibe during visit of murdered girl’s mother

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joked that the leader of the opposition Labour Party could not define what a woman was, during a parliamentary exchange that the mother of a murdered transgender girl had been invited to watch. Last week, two teenagers were jailed, for the murder of Brianna Ghey, who was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife, and a Labour lawmaker had invited Ghey's mother to watch Sunak's weekly question-and-answer session in parliament. In an exchange with Labour leader Keir Starmer, who had said Ghey's mother was watching, Sunak said "defining a woman" was on a list of Starmer's broken promises, joking…