The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, informed the House of Commons that three of the asylum seekers scheduled to board the first flight to Rwanda on Tuesday evening had their deportation halted by the European court, which interprets the ECHR.
Wednesday, Downing Street stated that all options were on the table and that withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights was not ruled out (ECHR).
It comes after last-minute interventions by the European Court of Human Rights prevented the plane from taking flight from a runway belonging to the Ministry of Defence an hour before it was due to do so.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel informed MPs that the European court, which interprets the ECHR, had stopped the transfer of three of the asylum seekers scheduled to board the first flight to Rwanda on Tuesday evening.
When asked if the government could withdraw from the European legal framework, the official spokesman for the prime minister responded, “We are keeping all alternatives on the table, including any additional legal reforms that may be required.”
In this round, we will examine all legislation and processes.
Tuesday evening, in response to the news that the flight had been grounded, several Conservative MPs called for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the ECHR and the authority of the Strasbourg court.
Alexander Stafford criticized the “disgraceful judgment of the foreign European Court of Justice,” while Sir Desmond Swayne stated, “We will have to grip the nettle and apply the principle of “regaining control” to the convention.”
Jonathan Gullis, a ministerial advisor to Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, stated that “the ECHR’s place in British law has to be examined immediately.”
The European Convention on Human Rights supports human rights duties in international treaties such as the Good Friday Agreement and the Brexit agreement.
In the meantime, the Home Secretary informed the Commons that despite the delay, the government’s Rwanda migrant policy had not been deemed unlawful.
Ms. Patel informed the members of parliament that the injunctions were not an “absolute block” to the removal of the asylum seekers who were scheduled to be on the flight and that they would be tagged while efforts to remove them continue.
She vowed that the Home Office would continue with the strategy despite legal challenges, despite the Church of England’s condemnation and reports that the Prince of Wales finds it “appalling.”
The Home Secretary accused “the usual suspects” backed by Labour of conspiring to “thwart and even campaign against” government initiatives and “the will of the British people.”
She said that “mobs” will not be permitted to obstruct removals, an apparent reference to demonstrators who tried a few days earlier to prevent immigration officers from removing a man from south London.
The English Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that the flight could proceed in response to a court challenge by activists who contend that the government’s intention to deport some migrants to the east African nation is inhumane.
Ms. Patel stated that the ECHR “did not declare that the policy or the relocations were invalid, but they did block the removal of three individuals on last night’s flight.”
These limitations have varying durations and do not constitute an outright ban on their transfer to Rwanda,” she noted.
“Anyone who has been ordered by the court to be freed will be tagged while we continue to work on their relocation.
“Although the Strasbourg court’s decision to intervene was disappointing and unexpected in light of the frequent and well-reasoned decisions of our domestic courts to the contrary, we remain committed to this policy.”
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, characterized the Rwanda strategy as a “mess.”
She stated, “This is a disgraceful mess for which the Home Secretary has only herself to blame.”
Ms. Patel, however, stated that detractors had no other plans to address “uncontrolled immigration.”
The government contends that the Rwanda program will prevent migrants from being exploited by human traffickers who transport them across the treacherous English Channel.
The Home Secretary stated, “This administration will not be intimidated from doing what is right.”
“We will not be deterred by the anticipated legal challenges at the eleventh hour.
Nor will we permit mobs to impede removals.
Previously, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told that the government will appeal the European judgment and that she was “very sure” that the next plane rented under the scheme would take off.
Boris Johnson stated on Tuesday, in response to a question on the withdrawal from the convention, that it “might very well be” required to “alter some laws to enable us
