Home Office plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda ‘abhorrent’ says Plaid Cymru MP
A Welsh MP has described the Home Office’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda tomorrow as “abhorrent in its denial of refugees’ fundamental human right to seek asylum in the UK.”
The Plaid Cymru member’s comments came after a High Court judge dismissed another challenge to the UK Government plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Charity Asylum Aid, which provides legal advice to asylum seekers, had asked Mr Justice Swift to temporarily block ministers from enforcing the removal of “any asylum seeker” to Rwanda.
Justice Swift ruled against the charity after considering the challenge at a High Court hearing in London.
But Liz Saville Roberts said that the “unethical policy” did not sit with Wales’s Nation of Sanctuary plan, which aims to ensure that asylum seekers are “supported to rebuild their lives and make a full contribution to Welsh society”.
‘Outcome’
The number of passengers has been significantly reduced due to individual court cases, and there are currently eight people scheduled to be flown to Rwanda on Tuesday, according to charity Care4Calais.
But Liz Saville Roberts said. said that it “denies us our right in Wales to offer our support and solidarity with refugees as we work to become a Nation of Sanctuary”.
“Our Nation of Sanctuary plan aims to ensure that asylum seekers are ‘supported to rebuild their lives and make a full contribution to Welsh society’. How does this unethical policy sit with our aim?” she asked.
Downing Street had earlier said that it remains the Government’s plan for the flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda to go ahead on Tuesday as planned.
“We certainly intend for there to be a flight tomorrow. That still remains the plan,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
“There are a number of legal challenges pending, so we need to see the outcome of those before we know the exact position.”
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Only independence will give us the right to choose the ethical path. Meanwhile well done Liz, London’s days of colonial abuses and connivance with third world dictaters are drawing to an end.
Liz is one of the few bright stars in the Westminster cesspit
Totally agree we need a physical boundary between Wales and England with passport control except for refugees.
I agree with Liz Savile-Roberts. Also there’s still so many unanswered questions regarding detainees healthcare, security , human rights, and what happens if there’s a riot as seen when refugees detained by Australia on a remote Manus Island and Nauru leading to many injured & deaths. Who oversees the Rwandan authorities & government seeing there’s corruption on a mammoth scale in the country?
I totally agree with Liz Saville Roberts: the tory enemies’ illegal stance is abhorrent and shocking to the extreme. Shame on their putrid, far-right and corrupted houses.
Wales needs to decide its own immigration matters – Liz Saville Roberts ought to use this as an opportunity to raise the issue with party and country. She won’t though, because Plaid Cymru is completely useless as we know.
But she should.
As a mostly centre-left liberal who leans right (compared to the majority of politicians in Western countries) on immigration (very left on refugees), there IS NO ETHICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS NONSENSE. da iawn Liz a faliwch ati.