THE TORY government’s racist drive to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda came unstuck on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) granted an injunction to remove one of the asylum seekers from the flight that led to it being cancelled.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said the government was ‘surprised and disappointed’ with the ruling but added: ‘I know officials will already be preparing for the next flight’.
It is common knowledge that Rwanda has seen in its recent history violent racial mass attacks taking place on minorities, with large numbers of people being killed and injured.
Such is the weakness of the Tory government’s position, the opposition from the ECHR, which was later taken up in the Houses of Parliament, led to the cancellation of the flight. Up to seven people had been expected to be moved to Rwanda on Tuesday evening
Now the Johnson government, led by criminals who broke their own Covid emergency laws, says that preparations are underway for the next flight to take asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said that government ‘lawyers in the Home Office are already working on the next steps’.
Earlier, human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC, who represented the lead case before the ECHR on Rwanda, said: ‘One of the things that makes Britain great… is that we will abide by international courts and international law.’ Coffey’s statement shows that the UK intends to break international law.
The Rwanda asylum plan, announced by the government in April, is intended to terrorise asylum seekers, who risk their lives crossing the channel to the UK, with the prospect of getting a one-way ticket to Rwanda as soon as they reach the UK.
The government says that this prospect would discourage others from crossing the Channel.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has said she was ‘disappointed’ with the ruling but added: ‘Preparation for the next flight begins now.’
Its partners, the Rwandan government, who will make tens of millions from the deal, stated yesterday that it is standing ready to welcome all of the asylum seekers.
The Strasbourg human rights court – which is not a European Union body but is part of the Council of Europe, which still has the UK as a member – had said that an Iraqi man, known as KN, faced ‘a real risk of irreversible harm’ if he remained on the flight.
The court said he should not be sent to Rwanda until the full decision, on whether the government’s policy is legal is made by the Supreme Court, which is due in July.
Coffey said the government ‘anticipated there would be plenty of legal challenges’ and it would ‘defend’ the policy.
Some 444 migrants were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats on Tuesday, undeterred by the Tory ‘terrorist’ tactics.
Home Secretary Patel was completely unrepentant. She said yesterday that ‘many of those removed from this flight will be placed on the next’.
The Rwandan government confirmed that it was ‘not deterred’ by the failure of the first flight to depart, and it remained committed to the deal with the UK that will see it pocketing millions of pounds.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy described the Rwanda asylum scheme as ‘unworkable’ and ‘unethical’ and said he was worried how much it would cost.
The TUC is marching on parliament this Saturday. It must announce to workers that the TUC trade unions will not aid in any way the deportation of asylum seekers, and that all asylum seekers are welcome to the UK on a permanent basis.
In fact, the TUC must not only support the asylum seekers, it must make sure that they will be allowed to remain in the UK by calling a general strike to remove the Tory government and bring in a workers government and socialism.
