What is the revamped Rwanda asylum plan and what hurdles does it face?

Published

6 months ago

December 8, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has introduced emergency legislation in a bid to salvage his embattled Rwanda asylum plan and deliver on his pledge to “stop the boats”.

The goal is to ensure those not entering the UK by legal means face being sent on a one-way trip to the east African country.

But last month, the Supreme Court ruled the policy unlawful and could not go ahead as it was, concluding there was a real risk genuine refugees sent to Rwanda could be returned to their home country, where they would face “ill-treatment”.

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In a bid to address the concerns, Home Secretary James Cleverly travelled to the country’s capital Kigali to sign a fresh deportation treaty before setting out the details of a proposed bill, which faces its first parliamentary test on Tuesday.

What is the latest Rwanda plan?

It is made up of two parts, aimed at making the deal legally watertight and so avoiding further setbacks, which have so far blocked all deportation flights amid soaring costs of the stalled policy.

The treaty, which needs to be ratified by the UK and Rwandan parliaments to make it internationally binding, centres on providing assurances to the Supreme Court that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda will not be removed and sent to another country where they face persecution.

As part of this a new appeals process will be established to deal with exceptional cases, such as if someone living in the country under the scheme commits a crime.

British and Commonwealth judges, as well as Rwandan judges, will preside over the appeal hearings and decide whether the individual remains in Rwanda or is sent back to the UK.

Meanwhile, the legislation is designed to enable parliament to confirm Rwanda is a “safe country”.

In a bid to reduce the scope for domestic court hold-ups, the legislation gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act, but does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The UK was among the first to ratify the international treaty which commits its 46 signatories to abide by rules on rights to life, liberty and expression, and protection from torture, degrading treatment and slavery.

It is not linked to the European Union, so Brexit did not affect the UK’s obligations.

Why does this matter?

Because Tory hardliners argue without making the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill more robust and allowing ministers to ignore asylum rulings by both domestic judges and the European Court of Human Rights, which makes binding judgments on the convention, the policy is destined to fail.

It led to the resignation of immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who argued the legislation was “a triumph of hope over experience”.

At the same time, centrist Conservative MPs are insisting the government respects the rule of law and the UK’s international obligations.

The public divisions causes a further headache for Mr Sunak as he seeks to take the legislation through parliament and reassert his authority over fractious backbenchers.

As well as differing positions on the ECHR, the Conservatives’ poor showing in the polls has heightened the tensions within the party.

A number of Tory MPs believe reducing immigration, and particularly ending the scenes of asylum seekers arriving on Kent’s beaches, will be key to narrowing Labour’s lead and want to see the government do everything possible to achieve that.

Although the government argues the proposed bill goes as far as it can as the Rwandan government will pull out of a deal that involves leaving the ECHR altogether, ministers have hinted at compromises with rebels.

Is party infighting the only problem facing the government?

No. As well as having to navigate the bill through the Commons, it also has to clear the House of Lords, where the Tory administration does not have a majority.

Any move to relax human rights safeguards are likely to encounter stiff opposition, not least among the many leading lawyers who sit on the red benches.

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The inability of the home secretary to guarantee the proposed law is compatible with the ECHR will only fuel concerns.

As the Rwanda plan was not a manifesto commitment, critics in the unelected chamber will also argue the usual convention of not delaying the delivery of an election pledge does not apply.

With an upcoming election, the timing also means the government cannot use powers under the Parliament Act to force through the legislation.

UK

Singapore Airlines: British man dies in severe turbulence as flight from London Heathrow forced to land in Bangkok

Published

2 hours ago

May 21, 2024

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Singapore Airlines: British man dies in severe turbulence as flight from London Heathrow forced to land in Bangkok

A 73-year-old British man has died from a suspected heart attack after turbulence on a London-Singapore flight.

Dozens more have been injured after passengers described people being “launched into the ceiling” and overhead lockers.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from Heathrow was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.

Seven people have serious head injuries and others have minor wounds, said the head of the Thailand airport.

The aircraft took off at 10.38pm UK time on Monday but diverted to Bangkok, landing at 3.45pm local time on Tuesday.

Passenger Dzafran Azmir, 28, described chaos as the turbulence hit.

“Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening,” he said.

“And very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelts was launched immediately into the ceiling.”

“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it,” he added.

“They hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”

Briton Andrew Davies told Sky News “anyone who had a seatbelt on isn’t injured”.

He said the seatbelt sign came on, but there was no time for crew to take their seats.

Mr Davies said “every single cabin crew person I saw was injured in some way or another, maybe with a gash on their head… One had a bad back, who was in obvious pain.”

Kittipong Kittikachorn, head of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, told reporters a British man, 73, had died from probable cardiac arrest.

He said about 30 people were injured, including at least one crew member, and that many passengers couldn’t walk and had to be helped from the aircraft

It’s believed the sudden turbulence hit while people were being served breakfast, the airport boss added.

Mr Kittikachorn blamed an “air pocket” for the incident.

He said the dead man’s wife was with him at hospital and that some people with minor injuries had already been discharged.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “in contact with the local authorities” over the incident.

Flight tracking data showed the plane cruising at 37,000ft (11,280m) before dropping 6,000ft (1,830m) in around three minutes.

However, a spokesperson for FlightRadar24 said this appeared to “just be a flight level change in preparation for landing”.

There were 211 passengers and 18 crew on the plane, a Boeing 777-300ER.

Turbulence can hit without warning

Jo Robinson

Weather producer

@SkyJoRobinson

There are a few forms of turbulence – where there’s a sudden change in airflow and wind speed.

Turbulence can often be associated with storm clouds, which are usually well forecast and monitored, allowing planes to fly around them.

Clear-Air Turbulence (CAT) is much more dangerous as there are no visual signs, such as clouds.

This invisible vertical air movement usually occurs at and above 15,000ft and is mostly linked to the jet stream.

There are clues on where CAT may occur, but generally it can’t be detected ahead of time, which means flight crews can be caught unaware with no time to warn passengers and put seat belt signs on.

It’s been understood for some time that climate change is increasing turbulence during flights, and the trend is set to worsen according to reports.

Social media video showed ambulances surrounding the aircraft on the tarmac.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the company said in a statement.

“We deeply apologise for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.”

It said it was working with Thai authorities and sending a team to Bangkok to help.

Singapore is considered a standard-setter for the aviation industry and consistently tops airline awards.

Turbulence-related injuries are the most common type on passenger planes, according to a study by the US National Transportation Safety Board.

It found it was responsible for more than a third of accidents between 2009 and 2018, but no aircraft damage.

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Infected blood victims to get £210,000 interim compensation payment from this summer

Published

2 hours ago

May 21, 2024

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Infected blood victims to get £210,000 interim compensation payment from this summer

Victims of the infected blood scandal will get £210,000 as an interim compensation payment from as early as this summer, the government has announced.

Cabinet minister John Glen told parliament the initial payment will be given to people living with the effects of contaminated blood “within 90 days, starting in the summer”.

Infected people who die between now and the payments being made will get the money sent to their estates, he added.

Mr Glen said: “As the prime minister made clear yesterday, there is no restriction on the budget. Where we need to pay, we will pay.

“We will minimise delays, we will address the recommendations of Sir Brian Langstaff with respect to that – speed and efficiency, and removing as much complexity as possible.”

The minister did not confirm the cost of the compensation package, but former justice secretary Robert Buckland said it could be upwards of £10 billion.

Mr Glen’s announcement came the day after a report into the scandal was published following a seven-year inquiry.

More than 30,000 Britons were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. More than 3,000 people died.

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Reaction to government’s response

Mr Glen also announced:

• The Infected Blood Compensation Authority – an “arm’s length body” – has been established to administer compensation, with Sir Robert Francis KC as the interim chair

• Anyone directly or indirectly infected by NHS blood, blood products or tissue contaminated with HIV or Hepatitis C, or developed a chronic infection from blood contaminated with Hepatitis B is eligible for compensation

• If someone would have been eligible but has died, compensation will be paid to their estate

• When a victim has been accepted onto the scheme, their affected partners, parents, siblings, children, friends and family who acted as carers of them can claim in their own right

• People who are registered with an existing infected blood support scheme will be automatically eligible for compensation to minimise the distress of proving they should be

• There will be five types of compensation: an injury impact award, social impact award (to acknowledge the stigma or social isolation from being infected), autonomy award (for disrupted family/private life), care award (for past and future care needs), and financial loss award (for past and future financial losses caused by being infected)

• Compensation will be offered in a lump sum or periodic payments

• The family of anyone who has died will get a single lump sum

• Any payments will be exempt from income, capital gains and inheritance tax

• Payments will not count towards means tested benefit assessments

• All recipients can appeal their compensation

• Final payments will start before the end of the year

• No immediate changes to existing infected blood support scheme payments – they will continue until 31 March 2025 and will not be deducted from new compensation

• From 1 April 2025, any support scheme payments received will be counted towards final compensation

• Nobody will receive less in compensation than they would have received in support payments.

Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the inquiry, found the scandal was “not an accident” and its failures lie with “successive governments, the NHS, and blood services”.

He said the response from governments of different stripes and the NHS “compounded” victims’ suffering.

This included the “deliberate destruction of some documents” by Department of Health workers, in what Sir Brian described as a “pervasive cover-up” and “downright deception”.

“It could largely, though not entirely, have been avoided. And I report that it should have been,” he said, adding the “scale of what happened is horrifying” for victims and their families.

Victims and their families welcomed the report following decades of not being believed.

Rishi Sunak offered a “wholehearted and unequivocal” apology to the victims following the report’s publication, saying it was a “day of shame for the British state”.

He promised compensation would be given to victims and those affected, adding: “Whatever it costs to deliver this scheme, we will pay it.”

UK

Images show damage inside Singapore Airlines plane after one killed in turbulence

Published

4 hours ago

May 21, 2024

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Images show damage inside Singapore Airlines plane after one killed in turbulence

Images have revealed damage caused to a Singapore Airlines plane after the flight from London Heathrow was caught in turbulence.

One British man, 73, died during the incident, with multiple people injured as Flight SQ321 began to shake during breakfast.

Kittipong Kittikachorn, the head of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, told reporters about 30 people were injured, including at least one crew member.

Images from inside the plane, which was heading to Singapore – but diverted to Bangkok, Thailand – show the damage caused during the turbulence.

Passenger Andrew Davies, who was sitting in premium economy, told Sky News he was watching a movie when the sign to fasten seatbelts lit up and the plane began plummeting.

He said it all happened so quickly that the captain didn’t even have time to inform the cabin crew to sit down.

“Every single cabin crew person I saw was injured in some way or another, maybe with a gash on their head… one had a bad back, who was in obvious pain,” he said.

“I don’t think they could give us any notice, I suspect they gave us as much notice as they possibly could.”

He also said anyone who had a seatbelt on wasn’t physically injured.

Another passenger on board suggested people not wearing a seatbelt were “launched immediately into the ceiling” after the plane suffered a “dramatic drop”.

“The crew and people inside lavatories were hurt the most because we discovered people just on the ground not able to get up,” Dzafran Azmir said.

“There were a lot of spinal and head injuries.”

People dropped to the ground, he said, and his phone “flew out” of his hand and “went a couple aisles to the side”, while people’s shoes “flung about”.

Once the plane was on the tarmac, nurses and rescue workers came in to check on the injured, Mr Azmir said.

“I don’t think they anticipated how bad it was,” he added.

Ambulances later arrived and Mr Azmir said he saw at least eight people on stretchers being pulled out of the emergency exits. It took 90 minutes to evacuate the plane, he said.

Images showed damage to the ceiling of the cabin, and food, cutlery and other debris strewn on the floor in the aftermath of the incident.

Mr Kittikachorn said some of the injured suffered cuts to the head, and described the incident as “chaotic”.

The flight, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER jet, departed at 10.17pm on Monday and was diverted to Bangkok, landing at 3.45pm local time (9.45am BST) on Tuesday.