2024-01-25 14:24:13
The president of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Cipher O’Learywarned the British Government this Thursday of its obligation to respect the orders issued by the Strasbourg court in matters of asylum. O’Leary’s comments come in the wake of the Rwanda security bill, which the British Parliament plans to approve in the coming months, and which contemplates the possibility that the Government could disobey possible precautionary measures dictated by international courts to initiate the deportations of immigrants who arrive in the country irregularly.
The first Minister, Rishi Sunakhas repeated on several occasions that he is willing to do “whatever is necessary” to implement the deportations, including disobeying the rulings of the ECtHR under the Norma 39, which gives power to Strasbourg judges to impose precautionary measures in exceptional circumstances and in the event that they detect “a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm.” A situation that already occurred in June 2022when the Government of the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnsonwas forced to cancel at the last minute a first deportation flight for asylum seekers bound for Kigali.
“There is a clear legal obligation [en virtud del Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos] that States comply with the measures of Rule 39,” O’Leary said at a press conference, before recalling that the United Kingdom has supported this rule on multiple occasions, such as when the ECtHR used it to demand Russia’s release. of the opponent Alexei Navalny in 2021. “The United Kingdom has always fulfilled with the measures of Rule 39, which date back to the 1950s,” said the judge, who has, however, avoided commenting specifically on the bill on deportations to Rwanda. “I know that there is a very healthy debate in the Kingdom United on this matter,” he simply said.
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The British Government insists that it has created the necessary legal framework to avoid new legal challenges, after the Supreme Court struck down deportation plans, considering that there is a risk that Rwanda will return asylum seekers to their countries of origin, putting their lives in danger. “We are confident that our legislation meets our international obligations. We are clear that the bill and the treaty [firmado con Ruanda] respond to the concerns of the Supreme Court. It should not be necessary for Strasbourg to intervene to block flights in the way it did in 2022,” said a spokesperson for the Executive.
Altar trusts that Parliament will definitively approve the new bill to implement deportations as soon as possible, aware of the need to achieve this goal before the elections, scheduled for the end of this year. The text received the approval of the deputies of the House of Commons last week, despite the rejection of some hard-line members, and will be debated in the House of Lords until mid-March.
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