Rishi wants to convince European leaders to change the law that stopped flights to Rwanda | British News
Rishi Sunak will warn European leaders that the international system to monitor human trafficking “is not working”.
The prime minister will announce at the Council of Europe meeting in Iceland that both the European communities and the world’s most vulnerable are “paying the price” for failing to prevent illegal migration.
It comes as Mr Sunak’s Conservative government is trying to enact measures aimed at preventing asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
The Illegal Migration Act aims to send asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via illicit routes back to their homeland or to a third country such as Rwanda and reduce the daily cost of housing for migrants who make it to the UK by 5, £5 million cut.
During his time in the Icelandic capital, Mr Sunak will hold talks with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over reforms to the way Rule 39 works – an order that thwarted last year’s first deportation flight bringing asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
Ahead of his trip, the Prime Minister said: “Every single point on every route used by human traffickers to smuggle people across our continent represents another community struggling with the human costs of this barbaric enterprise.”
“It is very clear that our current international system is not working and our communities and the world’s most vulnerable people are paying the price.”
“We need to do more to work together across borders and jurisdictions to end illegal migration and stop the boats.”
“I am aware that as an active European country with a proud history of helping those in need, the UK will take center stage.”
A Downing Street official said the challenge of illegal migration is not just a British problem.
They argued that the “scourge of illegal migration” was putting “unbearable pressure on countries across Europe”, noting that the number of cases had increased by 50% in the past year.
Mr Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman have unveiled a range of measures to tackle the flow of asylum seekers entering the UK through unofficial channels, under the Illegal Migration Bill currently in House of Lords committee.
The plans met with severe criticism. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used a speech to the House of Lords last week to call the bill “morally unacceptable and politically unworkable”.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister will argue during his trip to the Council of Europe that individual measures, such as his boat freeze policy, need to be matched by international cooperation to create a fit global asylum framework.
The Council of Europe was established after World War II to uphold democracy and freedom across the continent.
Tuesday’s meeting is only the fourth time the institution, which includes 46 countries, has met since its inception in 1949.
Mr Sunak will address the summit before holding bilateral meetings with individual European leaders.
No. 10 said the Conservative Party leader intends to discuss ECHR reform, including Article 39, at his meeting with Court President Siofra O’Leary.
The Council meeting, which will be attended virtually by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will also discuss the situation in Ukraine and how international allies can hold Russia accountable for violations of international law since the invasion of Kiev.
The Prime Minister will put the UK on the damage register to ensure the people of Ukraine are compensated for the losses caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war, No 10 said.
The register is a mechanism for collecting and documenting evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury resulting from Russian aggression against Ukraine.
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