HUMAN rights campaigners have called on peers to stop playing a “dystopian horror game” and reject the Rwanda Bill ahead of a vote in the Lords on Tuesday.
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which aims to convince judges that the country is a safe place, has already suffered 10 defeats in the House of Lords and is having its third reading on Tuesday.
If it becomes legislation, it could force courts in Britain to rule that the East African country is not dangerous for asylum-seekers to be sent to despite a previous ruling by the Supreme Court that it is not safe.
The Bill’s proposed amendments will be heard and debated in the Commons on March 18 as the “ping-pong” stand-off between the two Houses continues.
Changes already backed by the Lords include overturning the government’s bid to remove the courts from the process.
Amnesty International UK has warned that the Bill is an “assault on the rule of law and the protection of human rights” in Britain and called on peers to vote it down.
The group’s recent analysis of government policy on immigration found that the Tories have “largely shut down” Britain’s asylum system.
Amnesty’s warnings came after its campaigners staged a stunt at Parliament Square today with one protester wearing a mask of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dressed in a shiny gold-sequin jacket acting as a gameshow host spinning a “wheel of misfortune.”
The action aimed to highlight the serious negative consequences of the Bill, with some of the options on the wheel reading: “More death and exploitation,” “Strips human rights protections,” and “Billions [of pounds] wasted.”
Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “We are strongly urging peers to end this dystopian horror game and stop playing with refugees’ lives, the rule of law and our human rights.
“This could all come to an end now if the government abandons the cruel policy of refusing to decide asylum claims this country receives — this policy is the root cause of why the asylum system has largely shut down in the UK.
“It’s now or never — we are urging peers to reject the Rwanda Bill — refugees’ lives are not a game.”
