Sunak seeking new Rwanda treaty after court rules policy unlawful

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Rishi Sunak says the government is working on a new treaty with Rwanda, after the government's asylum seeker plan was ruled unlawful.    He also says he is "prepared to change our laws" if necessary.     The government believe the plan would deter people crossing in small boats across the Channel. Report by Chahalb. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00 This is the moment the government's flagship Rwanda policy was ruled unlawful.

00:05 The Home Secretary's appeal is therefore dismissed.

00:09 Rishi Sunak had wanted to fly asylum seekers to the central African country to have their

00:13 claims processed. The plan was to deter people from crossing the channel in small boats.

00:19 The Court of Appeal had already ruled against the plan, saying Rwanda was not a safe country,

00:25 a decision upheld by the UK's highest court today. The policy was deemed unlawful, with

00:32 a real risk that asylum seekers could be sent back to the places they fled from.

00:37 This was not just a major legal test, but a political one too. For many MPs on the right

00:42 of the Conservative Party, the flights to Rwanda were central to Rishi Sunak's pledge

00:46 to stop the boats.

00:48 But the policy has been an uphill battle for the government from the very start. In April

00:53 2022, following a drastic increase in the number of channel crossings, then-Prime Minister

00:58 Boris Johnson announced the Rwanda plan in what he said would act as a "very considerable

01:03 deterrent".

01:04 Two months later, the first deportation flight to Rwanda was cancelled just minutes before

01:09 take-off after the European Courts of Human Rights intervened. In December last year,

01:14 the High Court ruled the policy to be lawful but ordered the cases of the first eight deportees

01:19 to be reconsidered.

01:21 And at the beginning of 2023, the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced legislation

01:26 to tackle the migrant crisis as one of five key priorities for his premiership.

01:31 After that, in March, a High Court judge ruled that asylum seekers facing removal to Rwanda

01:36 can appeal against Home Office decisions over alleged errors in the consideration of whether

01:41 relocation poses a risk to their human rights.

01:45 In July, MPs learnt that the Home Office was paying thousands of pounds for empty hotel

01:50 beds reserved for migrants to avoid overcrowding at processing centres.

01:55 Meanwhile, the UK's asylum backlog hit a new record high, with 80% of people waiting longer

02:00 than six months for an initial decision.

02:03 This led to the then-Home Secretary Swella Braverman to advocate for the United Nations

02:08 Refugee Convention to be overhauled as part of wider efforts to stop small boats crossing

02:13 the Channel - comments that were later rebuked by the United Nations High Commissioner for

02:17 Refugees.

02:19 Ms Braverman has been a major proponent of the policy from the very beginning.

02:23 "If you deliberately enter the United Kingdom illegally from a safe country, you should

02:29 be swiftly returned to your home country or relocated to Rwanda."

02:35 But earlier this week, she was sacked from her position as Home Secretary and today her

02:40 dreams were dealt a huge blow.

02:42 Today's ruling means it's back to the drawing board for Rishi Sunak.

02:45 Earlier in Parliament, he had this to say.

02:47 "The government has already been working in advance on a new treaty with Rwanda, which

02:52 we will finalise in light of today's judgement, so to address the challenges that were raised.

02:57 But let me say this again, if it becomes clear that our domestic legal frameworks or international

03:02 conventions are still frustrating plans at that point, I am prepared to change our laws

03:08 and revisit those international relationships.

03:10 The British people expect us to do whatever it takes to stop the boats and that is precisely

03:15 what this government will deliver."

03:17 With small boat crossings unlikely to end any time soon, some may now demand the Prime

03:22 Minister take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is seen

03:26 as a major block to the policy.

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