Musings From Abroad

UK govt heads to Supreme Court in new attempt to deport migrants to Rwanda

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2023

The British government says it is ready to explore fresh legal moves in the push to have illegal migrants deported to the East African country, Rwanda.

The next trial will be held next week to persuade judges at the nation’s highest court to overturn a decision that found its disputed proposal to deport asylum seekers who come in small boats across the Channel to Rwanda illegal.

Attorneys for the government will argue before the Supreme Court that this finding was incorrect, while attorneys for refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, and Sudan want the court to find that the programme itself is faulty.

The British government last year revealed plans to send thousands of migrants to the East African country as part of a 120 million pound ($148 million) deal to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel from France in small boats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his ministers contend that the Rwanda initiative, put forth last year by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, would destroy the economic foundation of human traffickers and dissuade people from making the risky crossing of the English Channel in dinghies and small boats. In August, six individuals drowned, while 27 died in November 2021.

Opponents, meanwhile, claim that it is unethical, costly, and ineffective. Human rights organisations, legislators, some of whom are Conservatives, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Anglican Communion, are among them. The British monarch, King Charles is said to have also quietly expressed concerns, according to the media.

Even though the conservative government promised to reduce immigration, overall, net migration has increased, hitting a record high of 606,000 last year. More than 25,000 individuals have entered Britain this year on small boats, while a record-breaking 45,755 were found in 2022. Finding a solution to the issue of illegal immigration is one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top concerns.

Related Topics:Featured Rishi Sunak Rwanda UK UK/Rwanda migrant deal

Click to comment

Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

18 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.