The Know Daily - Tuesday 23 April 2024

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The city of love seems to love its bicycles, with more people now cycling than driving in the centre of Paris. A recent study found that while walking and public transport were still the most popular ways to get around, significant investment in cycling infrastructure - alongside a gradual clampdown on vehicles - had led people to favour bikes over cars. 

📝 The Rwanda plan, explained

After months of political wrangling, PM Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill has been passed by parliament. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s the bill about?
The government wants to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda - and the ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Bill is designed to allow this plan to go ahead.

Under the plan, some asylum seekers arriving in the UK would be sent to the East African country, where the Rwandan government will decide on their claim. If successful, asylum seekers will be granted refugee status and allowed to stay. If unsuccessful, they can apply to stay in Rwanda on other grounds or seek asylum in a different ‘safe third country’. No asylum seeker would be able to apply to return to the UK, the BBC explains.

Haven’t we seen this policy before?
Yep. The government first announced its Rwanda plan in April last year, unveiled in response to the soaring number of “perilous small boat crossings” across the English Channel, said CNN.

But in November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the plan was unlawful, finding that Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country. Immediately after this ruling, the government introduced its ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Bill to make clear in UK law that Rwanda is safe - and that’s the legislation that’s just been passed. 

Got it. How has the bill been received?
Home secretary James Cleverly described it as a “landmark moment” in the government’s plan to “stop the boats”. But a spokesperson from the International Rescue Committee UK described the plan as “ineffective, unnecessarily cruel and costly”. 

Will the policy face fresh legal challenges?
Almost certainly - but the new legislation will make it harder. That’s because it orders the courts to disregard British laws and international rules that may otherwise stand in the way of deportations to Rwanda.

What happens now?
The bill will become law within the next few days, and the PM has said that the focus is now to “get flights off the ground”. This is expected to take at least 10 weeks, with commentators now looking closely at whether the policy will act as the deterrent ministers claim.