Windsor Framework And Good Friday Agreement Could Clash With Rwanda Bill

Passing the Rwanda Bill could leave the UK with “two sets of contradictory legal obligations”, according to peers who believe that human rights protections afforded by the Good Friday Agreement and Windsor Framework are at odds with the controversial plans.

Crossbench peer Nuala O’Loan, who was the first Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, said ministers should “find another way” to tackle the small boats issue. Rishi Sunak's government is currently set on plans to deport migrants who arrive illegally in the UK this way to Rwanda. 

As the legislation now makes its way through the Lords, it is believed that two key arrangements with Northern Ireland could pose the latest challenge to the policy that has faced numerous legal obstacles since its inception.

Article 2 of the Windsor Framework – the deal between the UK and the EU that adjusted the Northern Ireland Protocol for post-Brexit trade across the Irish sea – protects the rights afforded to people under the Good Friday Agreement. Adherence with the European Convention on Human Rights is written into the 1998 agreement, "with direct access to the courts and remedies for breach of the convention". 

The Safety of Rwanda Bill includes an introductory statement from Home Secretary James Cleverly stating that ministers are "unable" to confirm the provisions of the Bill "are compatible with Convention rights".

Baroness O’Loan told PoliticsHome that she wants to see small boat crossings and trafficking stopped, but she does not “think the Rwanda Bill is the way”.

“If the Rwanda Bill is passed and the odds are it will be passed, we will have two sets of contradictory legal obligations," she said. 

“We'll have a set of legal obligations under the Windsor Framework, which is only a