#StopRwanda – The fight continues!
The Supreme Court upheld that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. But the Government is now trying to force its cruel plan into law by introducing a treaty it admits is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. We must keep fighting together – please help us oppose it in every way we can.
Sign Our Petition
Stop the legislation! Do you believe the UK government should respect the findings of the Supreme Court, and not force through legislation which endangers refugees lives and rights? If you do, please sign our petition.
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For those people receiving letters threatening possible removal to Rwanda, it can be an incredibly distressing time filled with uncertainty. Our Legal Access and Special Projects teams assist with finding legal representation, and empower asylum seekers with the information and tools needed to navigate the (purposefully?) complex UK asylum system.
The work is vital, but the team is overstretched. Please help fund a paid caseworker.
FAQs
The government says it wants to stop refugees in Northern France making dangerous journeys across the English Channel to claim asylum in the UK. It says that sending some refugees to Rwanda will deter others from making journey. Refugees crossing the Channel in small boats have already reached a point of desperation where they are willing to risk their lives in flimsy boats. Therefore any further threats at this point make no sense. 85 per cent of refugees in Northern France say they will still come, and in fact crossings increased when the plan was announced.
Refugees who have suffered the horrors of war, torture and persecution will now be faced with the immense trauma of deportation and an unknown future. This will cause immeasurable fear, anguish and distress. The UK courts have ruled that there is a real risk of refoulement (the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution) in Rwanda, and the Foreign Office itself has repeatedly warned against signing a deal to send refugees to Rwanda because of its poor human rights record.
UNHCR has presented compelling evidence that refugees will not be safe in Rwanda.
NO. Under domestic and international laws it has been found unlawful.
The journeys to Calais are incredibly harsh. From Africa they might cross the Sahara which takes many lives, then Libya, which is lawless, and kidnapping and torture are rife. From the Middle East the journey is across the Balkans where night-time temperatures can be minus 20, and the borders are rife with beatings and human rights abuses. Few women and children would survive theses horrors.
Many families will not risk their daughters safety on a journey to Europe. People trafficking, sexual abuse, exploitation and violence is far more prevalent for a female travelling as a refugee, so the males of the family take on the duty, claiming asylum if they survive to bring their family over safely.
So the young men you see on these boats are doing their best to protect their families.
How often does a father say they’d die for their daughter, a husband say they’d die for their wife? Well, these brave men are forced to risk that. Let’s hope and pray our sons, husbands, partners, nephews and brothers never have to have their love tested like this.
This is not about Rwanda as a country or the Rwandan people. It is about the current regime in power, which has an atrocious record on human rights.
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So many people oppose this brutal plan, but it’s VITAL that we all work together to make a huge amount of noise. That way we’ll make sure that, on the run up to the general election, all parties know the truth. We need EVERYONE opposed to the plan to act NOW. Here’s what you can do: