Emergency Rwanda legislation published

Emergency legislation which aims to enable the government's flagship Rwanda policy to go ahead has been published.

The Home Office said the bill, which will be introduced to Parliament on Thursday, made clear in UK law Rwanda was a safe country for asylum seekers.

It comes after Home Secretary James Cleverly signed a new treaty with the east African country.

The treaty and legislation are designed to address the concerns of the Supreme Court.

Last month, the UK's highest court ruled the plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda were unlawful.

The policy, which was first announced by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022, aims to deter people from crossing the Channel in small boats.

But it has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent to Rwanda from the UK yet.

The draft legislation concedes that it may not be compatible with minimum human rights safeguards.

Legislation rarely goes before MPs with such a legal warning.

However, this is the second time in a year that the government has asked Parliament to vote for measures that might fall foul of the courts - the first instance being the controversial Illegal Migration Act that was heavily attacked in the House of Lords.

The warning in the new Rwanda bill means lawyers have told ministers the measures could still be legally challenged - and the Supreme Court could find them incompatible with human rights obligations and therefore unworkable.