UK immigration minister resigns over 'strong disagreements' on Rwanda policy
- In Reports
- 11:05 AM, Dec 07, 2023
- Myind Staff
Robert Jenrick, the British Minister of Immigration, resigned from the Cabinet of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak due to "strong disagreements" with the government's deportation of illegal migrants from Rwanda.
Jenrick, once considered an ally of Sunak, expressed on Wednesday that he believed the emergency legislation, as presented by Home Secretary James Cleverly in a parliamentary statement, lacked the necessary measures to put an end to the continuous cycle of legal challenges.
Sunak responded to his resignation by saying he was “disappointed” but that his reasoning for quitting the post was "based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation".
"It is with great sadness that I have written to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Minister for Immigration,” Jenrick said in a post on X after questions in the House of Commons where he was missing from the front bench.
"I cannot continue in my position when I have such strong disagreements with the direction of the government's policy on immigration," he said.
Jenrick said that small boat crossings across the English Channel were doing "untold damage" to the country and the government needed to place "national interests above highly contested interpretations of international law".
In his resignation letter to Sunak, Jenrick wrote "I have therefore consistently advocated for a clear piece of legislation that severely limits the opportunities for domestic and foreign courts to block or undermine the effectiveness of the policy."
"A bill of the kind you are proposing is a triumph of hope over experience," he added.
Responding to this, Sunak countered by asserting that the upcoming bill would stand as "the toughest piece of illegal migration legislation ever put forward by a UK government"
"If we were to oust the courts entirely, we would collapse the entire scheme. The Rwandan government has been clear that it would not accept the UK basing this scheme on legislation that could be considered in breach of our international law obligations,” he said.
"There would be no point in passing a law that would leave us with nowhere to send people to," Sunak added.
Sunak is facing a significant setback as he prepares for his 2024 general election campaign. In reaction, the opposition Labour Party labelled the Conservatives as helming a "chaotic" government.
Former hardline interior minister Suella Braverman also issued Sunak an ultimatum to get tougher on immigration or face certain wipeout in the next general election, in a torrid day for the British prime minister.
On Thursday, the Safety of Rwanda Bill is scheduled to be formally introduced in the House of Commons. The Home Office says it would categorically declare Rwanda to be safe against international and UK law.
“Through this new landmark emergency legislation, we will control our borders, deter people taking perilous journeys across the channel, and end the continuous legal challenges filling our courts,” Sunak said in a statement.
“And we will disapply sections of the Human Rights Act from the key parts of the Bill, specifically in the case of Rwanda, to ensure our plan cannot be stopped. We have acted quickly to remedy the issues raised by the Supreme Court, proving that Rwanda is not just a safe country, but a modern, prosperous nation, and today we are ending the tactics used by people to cheat the system and betray the British people,” he said.
This comes after Cleverly's trip to Kigali on Tuesday, during which he signed a new agreement with Dr. Vincent Biruta, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs. The UK hopes that by deporting unlawful migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims are being processed, it will discourage people traffickers from sending illegal migrants to the UK.
Image source: Reuters
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