Summary

  • The British government says a new treaty with Rwanda will guarantee the safety of asylum seekers sent to the east African country

  • The UK wants to send asylum seekers who arrive in small boats on a one-way ticket to Rwanda

  • But the plan has been blocked by judges - who say it places asylum seekers at risk of being sent onwards to dangerous countries

  • The new treaty guarantees asylum seekers are "not at risk of being returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened", the UK says

  • There will also be a new appeals body, and a bigger role for an "independent monitoring committee"

  • "We feel very strongly that this treaty addresses all the issues raised by their lordships in the Supreme Court," Home Secretary James Cleverly says

  • The UK has already paid the Rwandan government £140m for the scheme - but no migrants have yet been sent there

Live Reporting

Edited by James Harness

  1. Cleverly travels to Rwanda

    James FitzGerald
    Live reporter

    Home Secretary James Cleverly is visiting Rwanda today - to sign a new treaty aimed at reviving the government's plan to send some asylum seekers there.

    The original deal was blocked by the Supreme Court last month, with the judges citing concerns over where the people deported could be sent by the Rwandan government - saying there were “substantial grounds” those places could be unsafe.

    But Cleverly hopes the new treaty will address the legal obstacles the plan has so far faced.

    My colleague Jacqui Howard and I are here to bring you the latest lines.