29th of June, 2023
The Supreme Court and the boat people who were illegally being banished to Rwanda.
By Cameron Brooks
The Church of Scotland has welcomed a court ruling which decided plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda are unlawful.
Emma Jackson, vice-convener of the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team, said: “We warmly welcome the outcome of the Court of Appeal ruling that says that the Rwanda deportation policy is unlawful.
“The Church has consistently argued that the plans were unacceptable in the way they treated individuals, removing their rights and robbed them of their humanity.
“The UK Government must now urgently rethink its Illegal Migration Bill and its whole approach to reforming the broken asylum system.
“Time and again it has proved to be cruel, unlawful, expensive and ultimately ineffective in delivering the aims of reducing irregular migration.
“As Christians, we believe in welcoming the stranger, we are all made in God’s image and Jesus himself was a refugee.
“The Church supports the restoration of the UK’s international aid budget to 0.7% of government spending and the establishment of safe and legal routes for people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
“The ban on asylum seekers, whose claim has not been determined after six months, being allowed to work must be lifted so they can contribute to our economy and we must only use detention as a last resort.”
Meanwhile, commenting on the Rwanda ruling being ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Not only is the Conservatives’ Rwanda asylum plan immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for taxpayers, but the Court of Appeal has also now said it is unlawful too.
“It will do nothing to stop dangerous Channel crossings – and it runs roughshod over the UK’s legal obligations, as the courts have confirmed.
“The Home Secretary needs to finally accept reality. Instead of wasting even more taxpayer money by defending this plan in the courts, the Home Secretary should scrap her vanity project and focus on tackling the asylum backlog created by her own Government’s incompetence.”