LONDON: UK leader Rishi Sunak battled Tuesday to quell growing dissent over his controversial plan to send migrants to Rwanda, testing his authority with a general election on the horizon.
Parliament launched two days of debate about the scheme — a central part of Sunak’s pledge to stop asylum seekers crossing from France to Britain in small boats.
The Conservative prime minister has staked his political future on slashing record levels of regular and irregular migration, with his Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill key to that pledge.
But the proposal has reopened divisions in his ruling Tory party between right-wingers and centrists, leaving Sunak between a rock and a hard place as he fights to turn it into law.
The plan is his answer to a unanimous UK Supreme Court ruling in November that deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal under international law.
If passed, it would compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country and proposes giving UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reiterated this week that the bill and a recently signed treaty with Kigali designating Rwanda “safe” were “not compatible” with international refugee law.
More than 60 MPs have publicly backed amendments to make the bill even tougher though, including by disapplying international law and restricting asylum seekers’ rights to appeal against deportation.
They include two Tory deputy chairmen, testing Sunak’s leadership mettle amid calls for the pair to be dismissed, in infighting not seen since the wranglings over Brexit.
Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson, who introduced the Rwanda scheme when he was in office, has also backed the amendments, although he is no longer an MP and cannot vote.
If Sunak bows to the rebels’ demands, then the bill would almost certainly be scuppered by moderates, who oppose violating international law and say the legislation already pushes the limits.
In a bid to appease MPs who fear that individual appeals against deportation to Rwanda could clog the courts, Sunak’s government announced Tuesday that it would hire new judges to fast-track cases.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the changes would create 5,000 additional sitting days to hear appeals.
A spokesman for Sunak said the move showed that the government was “taking every conceivable step to ensure” that flights to Kigali could take off.
But several right-wing MPs told the House of Commons debate that Sunak’s bill does not go far enough.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who quit in protest at the bill in December, said the amendments “represent the last opportunity for us to get this policy right.”
The amendments are unlikely to be passed but will provide clues as to whether Sunak is in danger of losing a main vote on his bill expected on Wednesday night.
His spokesman told reporters that discussions with lawmakers were “still ongoing.”
Party rebels had threatened to kill the Rwanda legislation during the first vote on the issue last month but Sunak faced them down and won a knife-edge parliamentary vote.
The rebels may ultimately decide it is better to back their leader, rather then side with the main opposition Labour party, which calls the plan a “gimmick.”
The prime minister says the law is essential to deter migrants from considering traveling to the UK via unauthorized routes.
Around 30,000 asylum seekers crossed the English Channel on rudimentary vessels last year. Five died trying to make the journey this past weekend.
Sunak has yet to announce the date of the UK’s general election but has said it will be held this year.
Some opinion polls put Labour more than 20 points ahead of the Tories, suggesting the ruling party is heading for a landslide defeat.
UK’s Sunak battles to push through Rwanda migrant law
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UK’s Sunak battles to push through Rwanda migrant law
- Parliament launched two days of debate about the scheme — a central part of Sunak’s pledge to stop asylum seekers crossing from France to Britain in small boats
- The Conservative prime minister has staked his political future on slashing record levels of regular and irregular migration
Harvard students end protest as university agrees to discuss Middle East conflict
- The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands”
- Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.
The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.
Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.
The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel’s military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world’s largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.
The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment, and reinvestment, and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.
“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard.”
At least 15 injured in Russian strike on high-rise in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
- A fire broke out at another strike site, and at least ten garages were affected
KYIV: A Russian air attack on Kharkiv city center in Ukraine hit a high-rise residential building, injuring at least 15 people, including two children, local officials said on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear what kind of weapon was used in the strike, but it landed on the 10th floor of the 12-story apartment block, officials said on Telegram.
Ihor Terekhov, the city’s major, said rescuers were searching for the injured.
One person was hospitalized in a serious condition, Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, added.
A fire broke out at another strike site, and at least ten garages were affected, Syniehubov said.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and the surrounding region have long been targeted by Russian attacks but the strikes have become more intense in recent months, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure.
Two French prison officers killed in inmate's escape
- The incident took place late morning at a road toll in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France
- The inmate was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy
ROUEN, France: Gunmen on Tuesday attacked a prison van at a motorway toll in northern France, killing at least two prison officers and freeing a convict who had been jailed last week.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed that everything would be done to find those behind the attack as hundreds of members of the security forces were deployed for a manhunt to find the attackers and the inmate who were all still at large.
Two prison officers were killed in the attack and two others are receiving urgent medical care, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
The incident took place late morning at a road toll in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France, a source close to the case added.
The inmate was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy.
A police source said several individuals, who arrived in two vehicles, rammed the police van and then fled.
One of them was wounded, the police source said.
It was not immediately clear how many attackers there were in total.
"Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime," Macron wrote on X.
"We will be uncompromising," he added, describing the attack as a "shock".
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti immediately headed to a crisis cell at his ministry.
"These are people for whom life counts for nothing. They will be arrested, they will be judged and they will be punished according to the crime they committed," he said.
Both the officers killed were men and they were the first prison officers to be killed in the line of duty since 1992, he added.
One of them was married and had two children while the other "left a wife five months pregnant", he said.
"I am frozen with horror at the veritable carnage that took place at the Incarville toll," said Alexandre Rassaert, the head of the Eure region council.
"I hope with all my heart that that the team of killers which carried out this bloody attack will be arrested quickly."
A unit of the GIGN elite police force has been despatched to apprehend the suspects.
Traffic was stopped on the A154 motorway where the incident took place.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X he had ordered the activation of France's Epervier plan, a special operation launched by the gendarmerie in such situations.
"All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilised," he said.
Prosecutor Beccuau named the inmate as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994, saying that last week he had been convicted of aggravated robbery and also charged in a case of abduction leading to death.
The case has been handed to prosecutors from France's office for the fight against organised crime known by their acronym JUNALCO.
Law and order is a major issue in French politics ahead of next month's European elections and the incident sparked fierce reactions from politicians, especially the far right.
"It is real savagery that hits France every day," said Jordan Bardella, the top candidate for the far-right National Rally (RN) which is leading opinion polls for the elections.
Indonesia’s president-elect seeks to boost defense ties with UAE
- Prabowo Subianto is set to succeed President Joko Widodo in October
- His visit to Abu Dhabi seen as a strategic move ahead of presidency
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President-Elect Prabowo Subianto wants to boost defense ties with the UAE, his office said on Tuesday, as he made the first official trip to Abu Dhabi since winning the general vote.
Indonesia-UAE relations grew under incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who in 2021 secured an over $46 billion investment commitment from the Gulf state. A year later, the two countries signed a free trade deal, which came into force last September.
Subianto, a former special forces commander and Indonesia’s current defense minister, is set to succeed Widodo and take office in October following his landslide victory in the presidential election in February.
On Monday, he was in Abu Dhabi to receive the UAE’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Zayed, in recognition of his efforts in enhancing bilateral ties.
“I hope Indonesia-UAE relations will continue to develop and grow in accordance with the ambitions of the two countries in strengthening cooperation across various fields, including in defense,” Subianto said in a statement after meeting UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
During Subianto’s time in office as minister, Indonesia and the UAE agreed to strengthen defense ties with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2020, followed by a protocol agreement on the development of their defense industries in 2022.
Subianto’s visit to the UAE can be seen as a strategic move ahead of his presidency.
“As we get closer to his inauguration, Prabowo has gained a boost in confidence to directly meet with MBZ and discuss strategic issues at the bilateral, regional and global level,” said Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations expert from Padjadjaran University in West Java.
“It’s only natural that Prabowo is visiting Abu Dhabi because it’s one of the world’s biggest sources of foreign investments … Certainly, Prabowo wants to seriously guarantee that investments from Abu Dhabi will be very strategic in the development of Indonesia.”
India sets sights on Iranian port as gateway to Afghanistan, Central Asia
- New Delhi signed a 10-year deal to operate Chabahar port on Monday
- India began helping Iran to develop Chabahar in 2016
NEW DELHI: India’s newly signed deal to operate the Iranian port of Chabahar is expected to provide it a gateway to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia, offering possible competition to Pakistan’s Gwadar.
The 10-year contract, under which India will invest $120 million in Chabahar’s infrastructure, was signed in Tehran on Monday between the state-owned Indian Ports Global Ltd and the Port & Maritime Organization of Iran.
India’s Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal welcomed the deal, saying the development of Chabahar was an “India-Iran flagship project” and that the port would be a “gateway for trade with Afghanistan and broader Central Asian countries.”
New Delhi’s commitment to Chabahar started in May 2016 when Iran, India, and Afghanistan signed a trilateral transit agreement to develop the port into a regional trade hub.
“The signing of the deal signifies the strength of bilateral ties between India and Iran,” said D.P. Srivastava, who was India’s ambassador to Iran when talks on the project started.
“The present agreement will build on progress achieved so far.”
India’s 2016 involvement in Chabahar came after the US eased sanctions on Iran. The sanctions were reimposed by Donald Trump’s administration in 2018.
After the signing of Monday’s agreement, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that the sanctions on Iran remained in place, and that Washington would enforce them.
Prof. Sujata Ashwarya from the Centre for West Asian Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi said it was not likely that sanctions would affect India, as its presence was helping deter China — the main rival of the US — from becoming involved in the Iranian port.
“(India) will effectively keep China out of the project,” Ashwarya said. “If we are there, then China won’t be there, and the US would not impose sanctions.”
Located in Iran’s southeast, Chabahar is less than 100 km from Gwadar in southwestern Pakistan — a flagship project of the multibillion-dollar China–Pakistan Economic Corridor under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Ashwarya said the Iranian port is Gwadar’s potential competitor.
“It is an investment in trade facilitation with an eye on making Chabahar a hub,” she said.
“It provides competition to Gwadar, it could potentially lead to a secured corridor to Afghanistan and Central Asia, which means that India’s trade with these regions can flourish and broaden.”
