Rwanda safe for migrants, UK’s Suella Braverman says after trip

In March Britain set out details of a new law barring the entry of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the channel that will also prevent them from claiming asylum and will aim to deport them either back to their homeland or to so-called safe third countries. Some charities say the proposed law could be impractical and criminalise the efforts of thousands of genuine refugees. Braverman was asked by the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg about a violent protest over rations in a camp in Rwanda in 2018, which Rwandan police said resulted in the deaths of at least five refugees.

Braverman said she is not familiar with that case but is "on strong ground" in saying Rwanda is a safe country, and added that it is the right solution for Britain's small-boats problem. "We're looking at 2023 and beyond," she said on Sunday. "The high court -- senior expert judges -- have looked into the detail of our arrangement with Rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful." Braverman, who visited Rwanda in March, would not give a deadline for the first flight to depart.

"We have to be realistic," she told Sky News. "We had a very strong victory in the high court at the end of last year on Rwanda. We've now introduced legislation. We want to move as quickly as possible to relocate people from the UK to Rwanda."

Reuters