Musings From Abroad

Again, British parliament’s upper house frustrates Rwanda migrant plan

Published

6 months ago

April 17, 2024

Rishi Sunak’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda have suffered another setback as it has been rejected again by Britain’s upper house of parliament.

The parliament suggested changes that would delay the policy, but not stop it. The prime minister hopes that this will help his party’s chances in the next election.

Ahead of general elections later this year, Sunak has put a lot of political capital into the Rwanda plan, saying that it will help him keep his promise to stop thousands of people from coming to Britain illegally in small boats.

The House of Lords, which is Britain’s unelected upper house, tried to change the new laws a third time after Monday when the House of Commons turned down its second set of plans. But the move probably won’t stop the bill from being approved this week, which means it will become law.

Sunak wants to go to Rwanda as soon as possible, but the plan could still be thrown out of court. The House of Lords agreed with four ideas. One of them was an amendment to make sure the law follows international law.

The bill returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday as Conservative members are likely to vote against the changes that are being suggested. If that didn’t happen, the upper house might decide it wasn’t possible to get elected lawmakers to make any changes and pass it.

Asylum seekers who come to Britain illegally will be sent back to their home country. This is because of a policy made two years ago that aims to stop dangerous Channel crossings in small boats and end the business model of people smugglers.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stopped the first planned removal flight in June 2022. Last year, the UK Supreme Court said the plan was illegal.

Sunak’s new law, which doesn’t follow some existing human rights laws, is meant to go against the Supreme Court’s decision by saying that British courts should treat Rwanda as a safe place to visit and that people can only appeal in very rare cases.

Nowadays, Europe is worried about people coming in illegally from Africa and the Middle East. In June 2023, a record 45,000 people had flown across the English Channel in small boats.

Related Topics:British parliament Featured Rwanda

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Musings From Abroad

Cancelled Brazil mines contract may cost S’Africa’s Sibanye $522 million

Published

5 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the cancellation of a $1.2 billion agreement to purchase Appian’s Brazilian nickel and copper mines, investment firm, Appian Capital Advisory, has filed a $522 million compensation claim against South African miner Sibanye Stillwater, the company announced on Monday.

Last week, the London High Court mandated that Sibanye pay Appian for the lost deal, with a hearing scheduled for November 2025 to decide the exact amount of damages.

“Appian currently claims damages of up to $522 million,” Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted told Reuters. “Sibanye’s case is therefore that Appian is entitled to either no or significantly reduced damages.”

An Appian representative declined to provide a statement.

In what would turn out to be its largest venture into the battery mineral business, Sibanye announced in October 2021 that it would be purchasing the mines owned by affiliates of funds advising them.

It backed out of the deal three months later, claiming that the Santa Rita mine’s instability would have had a significant negative influence on operations going forward.

According to Wellsted, the claims Sibanye obtained include pre-judgment interest, expenditures and expenses related to the mines’ administration and resale procedure, and the difference between the agreed-upon purchase price and the market value of the shares in the mines.

The financial obligations place additional strain on Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, who is already dealing with growing losses brought on by a decline in the price of platinum group metals.

According to Wellsted, Sibanye intends to contend that Appian violated a fundamental tenet of English contract law, which requires a claimant to take reasonable measures to lessen its losses.

“Appian is required to mitigate its loss by accepting offers for the mines at fair market value and to account for any profits it has made from its continuing ownership of the mines,” he added.

Musings From Abroad

Uganda signs contract with Yapi Merkezi to develop rail

Published

1 day ago

October 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Ugandan government and Turkish construction company, Yapi Merkezi, inked a contract on Monday to build a 272-kilometer (169-mile) stretch of railway, an official from Uganda stated.

Perez Wamburu, the project coordinator for Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway, stated that the agreement covered the first phase of a 1,700 km electrified train line, costing 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion).

According to Wamburu, work on the project will begin in November.

At the signing event, Bageya Waiswa, the permanent secretary of Uganda’s works ministry, stated that the project will boost trade and lower transportation costs.

He stated that Uganda will finance the project, which will take 48 months to finish once it is underway, using both its own money and loans from export credit institutions.

The rail segment will connect landlocked Uganda to its neighbour’s rail network at the Kenyan border, Malaba, and eventually the Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa. It will stretch from the capital, Kampala, to this location.

Uganda and China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC) reached an agreement in 2015 to carry out the project, provided that CHEC assisted in obtaining funding for the railway from the Chinese government.

Uganda ended the deal last year and started negotiations with Yapi Merkezi, which is working on a project identical to this in adjacent Tanzania, after years of failed negotiations.