Over 260 charities and expert organisations call on House of Lords to reject shameful Rwanda Bill

A coalition of 270 charities and expert organisations working to protect people’s rights have issued a joint statement calling on Peers to reject the Government’s Rwanda Bill as it reaches Second Reading in the House of Lords today.

Full statement and signatory list below.

Joint civil society statement on the Rwanda Bill for Second Reading in the House of Lords, January 2024:

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is a constitutionally extraordinary and deeply harmful piece of legislation.

It threatens the universality of human rights and is likely in breach of international law, striking a serious blow to the UK’s commitment to the rule of law.

It was not a Government manifesto commitment – on the contrary, it will hinder the UK’s ability to “continue to grant asylum and support to refugees fleeing persecution”.

As a coalition of more than 260 organisations working in and across the UK, we call on Peers to reject the Bill at Second Reading.

The Rwanda Bill undermines the principle that human rights are universal – that they apply to all of us, regardless of where we are from.

Going even further than recent Government legislation such as the Illegal Migration Act (IMA), the Rwanda Bill disapplies key aspects of our Human Rights Act (HRA) which include basic, minimum standards that exist to protect us all.

This will create a two-tiered system of human rights protection, where adults and children seeking safety who are threatened with removal to Rwanda will not have the full protections of the HRA to enforce their rights in domestic courts.

The Rwanda Bill is an attack on the constitutional role of the judiciary and the rule of law.

The Bill legislates something that has been authoritatively found to be false by the Supreme Court and requires it to be treated as true in perpetuity.

Even if a court heard overwhelming evidence that Rwanda was unsafe, it would be required to ignore the facts in front of them to “conclusively” treat Rwanda as a safe country.

If the Government is so confident about the legality of the new Rwanda treaty, it should not fear independent oversight by domestic courts.

If Parliament validates legislating legal fictions in this way, it would set a dangerous precedent for future governments – a threat to rights protections for all.

Moreover, the Bill severely restricts grounds for resisting government decisions and domestic court remedies. Limiting access to justice in this way is an erosion of the principle that we are all equal before the law.

The Bill puts the UK on a direct collision course with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Its cover contains an extraordinary statement – that the Government cannot say that it complies with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In particular, the Bill expands powers given to Ministers in the IMA to ignore interim measures of the ECtHR and that Act’s prohibition on UK courts having regard to an interim measure when considering any application/appeal relating to removal to Rwanda.

Interim measures are a life-saving tool that allow the ECtHR in exceptional circumstances to place a temporary stop on an action where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm, to allow time for a full judgment to take place.

They are binding on the Government under international law. Giving a Minister legislative validation in ignoring them is a deeply concerning green light to the breaking of international law and erodes the UK’s commitment to the Convention. The Government itself admits in its ECHR memorandum that using the power would likely breach the ECHR.

The Bill also reneges on other international commitments. In particular, it risks violating the principle of non-refoulement, which the Supreme Court found has been given effect by multiple international treaties to which the UK is a party (including the Refugee Convention and UN Convention Against Torture).

The Rwanda scheme is an attempt by the UK Government to shirk its obligations to consider asylum claims and support those granted protection as part of the international refugee protection system.

Even more alarmingly, the Bill states that the Government and courts should treat Rwanda as a safe country, regardless of “any interpretation of international law by the court or tribunal”.

This extreme provision will damage the UK’s international reputation and ability to hold other states to account for human rights abuses.

The Rwanda Bill will breach the Belfast/Good Friday Peace Agreement (B/GFA) and Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.

The B/GFA commits the UK Government to “complete incorporation into Northern Ireland law of the ECHR, with direct access to the courts, and remedies for breach of the Convention, including power for the courts to overrule Assembly legislation on grounds of inconsistency.”

These safeguards, as well as the Government’s Windsor Framework commitment to ‘no diminution of rights in Northern Ireland’, will be violated by proposals in the Bill which directly restrict domestic access to the courts, remove remedies for breaches of the Convention, and reduce the rights of refugees below the standards set by the ECHR and other relevant international law.

Either we all have human rights, or none of us do. The Government must not be allowed to pick and choose when our fundamental rights apply, nor to undermine the ways that we can hold it to account.

Signatories:

1. ACES
2. Action Foundation
3. African Rainbow Family
4. Agenda Alliance
5. All Out
6. Alzheimer Scotland
7. Amina MWRC
8. Amnesty Bourneville
9. Amnesty International UK
10. Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)
11. Anti-Slavery International
12. Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group
13. Art27 CIC
14. Art27 Scotland
15. Article 39
16. Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees
17. Asylum Link Merseyside
18. Asylum Matters
19. Asylum Support Appeals Project
20. Bail for Immigration Detainees
21. Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile
22. Baptist Union of Wales
23. Baptists Together
24. BARAC UK
25. Basis Yorkshire
26. Become
27. Best for Britain
28. BIASAN
29. Birmingham City of Sanctuary
30. Birmingham Community Hosting Network (BIRCH)
31. Birthrights
32. Blaksox
33. Bloody Good Period
34. Boaz Trust
35. Bradford and Shipley TUC
36. Bradford City of Sanctuary
37. Bridges Programmes
38. British Association of Social Workers
39. Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees
40. C-Change Scotland
41. Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
42. CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers)
43. Cardiff University
44. Care4Calais
45. Carers Trust Scotland
46. Caritas Cardiff
47. Caritas Shrewsbury
48. Carlisle One World Centre
49. Carlisle Refugee Action Group
50. Central England Law Centre
51. Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race & Equality Centre
52. Children in Scotland
53. Children’s Parliament
54. Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law
55. Circles Network
56. Citizens Advice Newcastle
57. City of Sanctuary Sheffield
58. City of Sanctuary UK
59. Civil Society Alliance
60. Close the Gap
61. Common space Common humanity
62. Community Integration and Advocacy Centre (CIAC)
63. Community Policy Forum
64. Compassion in Politics
65. Conversation Group Newcastle
66. Coram Children’s Legal Centre
67. Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre
68. Derby Stand up to Racism
69. Derbyshire LGBT+
70. Detention Action
71. Distribute Aid
72. Doctors of the World UK
73. Ecojustice Ireland
74. ECPAT UK (Every Child Protected Against Trafficking)
75. Edinburgh City Mission
76. Edmund Rice England
77. Elmbridge CAN
78. End Violence Against Women Coalition
79. ENTRAIDE
80. ESAScotland
81. Equality Network
82. Equally Ours
83. Fair Vote UK
84. Faith & the Environment Lincolnshire Group
85. Faith in Older People
86. Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)
87. FODI
88. forRefugees
89. Forth Valley Migrant Support Network
90. Freedom from Torture
91. Friends of the Earth (England Wales and Northern Ireland)
92. furness multicultural community forum
93. Furness Refugee Support
94. GARAS
95. Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
96. Gay Men’s Health Collective
97. Glasgow Disability Alliance
98. Glitter Cymru
99. Global Justice Now
100. Global Link
101. Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
102. Growing Together Levenshulme
103. Hackney Stand Up to Racism
104. Haringey Welcome
105. Hastings Community of Sanctuary
106. Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)
107. Heanor Baptist Church
108. Helen Bamber Foundation
109. Herts for Refugees
110. HIAS+JCORE
111. Hope for Justice
112. Human Rights Consortium Scotland
113. Human Rights Watch
114. Humanist Society Scotland
115. Humanists UK
116. Humans for rights network
117. Ice and Fire Theatre
118. Idaraya life CIC
119. Imkaan
120. Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
121. Inclusion North CIC
122. INQUEST
123. International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
124. Iraqi Association
125. Islington Law Centre
126. JCT – Joining Communities Together
127. Jesuit Refugee Service UK
128. Joanna Project
129. Juno Women’s Aid
130. Just Fair
131. Just Futures Centre for Child, Youth, Family and Community Research, University of Huddersfield
132. JustRight Scotland
133. Kids in Need of Defense UK
134. Latin American Women’s Rights Service
135. Law Centres Network
136. Learn for Life Enterprise
137. Leeds Destitute Asylum-Seekers Support
138. LeedsTransVoice
139. Legal Aid Practitioners Group
140. LGBT Health and Wellbeing
141. LGBT Youth Scotland
142. Liberty
143. Lichfield Quaker Meeting, Staffordshire
144. London Friend
145. Louth Churches for Refugees
146. Macc
147. Magic for Smiles
148. Making Rights Real
149. Manchester BME Network CIC
150. Manchester City of Sanctuary
151. Manchester Migrant Solidarity
152. Manchester Refugee Support Network
153. MAP MIDDLESBROUGH
154. Maryhill Integration Network
155. Medical Justice
156. Mermaids
157. Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders
158. Metropolitan Community Church of North London
159. METRO Charity
160. Micro Rainbow CIC
161. Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU)
162. Migrants Organise
163. Migrants’ Rights Network
164. Muslim Council of Britain
165. NACCOM
166. National AIDS Trust
167. National Autistic Taskforce
168. National Board of Catholic Women (NBCW)
169. New Citizens’ Gateway
170. New Europeans UK
171. New to the UK (Churches Together in North Shields)
172. Newcastle City Council
173. Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium
174. Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF)
175. Oldham Unity
176. One Life To Live
177. One Roof Leicester
178. Open Door North East
179. Our Second Home
180. Outside the Box
181. Parenting Across Scotland
182. Participation and the Practice of Rights
183. Partners in Advocacy
184. Pendle New Neighbours
185. PERN Penrith and Eden Refugee Network
186. Phoenix Care Group
187. Plan International UK
188. Planning Democracy
189. Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS)
190. Praxis
191. Public Law Project
192. Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network
193. Quakers in Britain
194. Rainbow Haven
195. Rainbow Migration
196. Rape Crisis Scotland
197. RealisingRights
198. Reclaim the Agenda
199. REDRESS Trust
200. Refugee Action
201. Refugee Council
202. Refugee Education UK
203. Refugee Welcome Homes
204. René Cassin
205. ReportOUT
206. Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together
207. Rethink Rebuild Society
208. Right to Remain
209. Rights & Choices (Women’s Support Project)
210. Rights of Women
211. Safe Passage International
212. SAYiT
213. Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
214. Scottish Refugee Council
215. Scottish Women’s Aid
216. Scottish Youth Parliament
217. Simon Community Scotland
218. Six Ways Erdington Baptist Church
219. SMK Law Solicitors
220. Snowdrop Project
221. Somali Adult Social Care Agency
222. South London Refugee Association
223. South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group
224. Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)
225. Space Youth Project
226. St. Vincents Justice & Peace group
227. Stand & Be Counted
228. Statewatch
229. Stories of Hope and Home
230. Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
231. Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL)
232. Tai Pawb
233. Tees Valley of Sanctuary
234. The Baobab
235. The Children’s Society
236. The Comfrey Project
237. The Hong Kong Scots
238. The Hummingbird Refugee Project- Brighton
239. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
240. The Kite Trust
241. The Methodist Church
242. The Paristamen Charity
243. The Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS) Project
244. The Separated Child Foundation
245. The United Reformed Church
246. The William Gomes Podcast
247. Time to be Out
248. Together Now
249. Together with Migrant Children
250. Together with Refugees Stroud District
251. Tulia Group
252. Tynemouth Together with Refugees
253. Tyneside Welcomes
254. UK Black Pride
255. Unison
256. Unlock Democracy
257. Upbeat Communities
258.  Vauxhall Community Law and Information Centre
259.  Voices in Exile
260. Welfare Scotland
261.  Welsh Centre for International Affairs
262.  Welsh Refugee Council
263.  Wers campaigning group
264.  West London Welcome
265.  WISH
266.  Women for Independence
267.  Women for Refugee Women
268.  Women’s Health Matters
269.  Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom UK
270.  Young Roots