In April 2022 the Conservative government announced that certain people arriving without authorisation to seek asylum in the United Kingdom would be sent to the Rwanda to have their claims heard. If these claims were successful, they would also be resettled in Rwanda and not returned to the UK. On 15^th November 2023, the Supreme Court declared the policy to be unlawful because Rwanda is not a safe country to remove people seeking asylum to. In response, the government announced a new treaty with Rwanda (including additional safeguards) and a new ‘Rwanda Bill’ is currently (February 2024) being debated in parliament. 

In this online panel discussion, we will be joined by Professor Alison Phipps (Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration in Languages and the Arts, University of Glasgow) and Professor Nando Sigona (Chair of International Migration and Forced Displacement, Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham) to explore what the government is setting out to do through this legislation and the potential impacts for people seeking asylum. Drawing on their extensive expertise and engagement on this issue, Professor Phipps and Professor Sigona will give an overview of the origins of the Rwanda Bill, where we are at with the legislation, the future impacts of this bill for people seeking asylum in the UK, and how communities are responding and ways they can challenge and resist this legislation.

This panel discussion is organised by the Lancaster University Sanctuary Network , FASS Decolonisation and the Lancaster University Migrancy Research Group. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

13:00 - 14:00

Professor Alison Phipps and Professor Nando Sigona

Talk / Public Lecture

Events - Campus and Community Life, Events - Staff Channel, Events - Student Channel, Library Channel, Web - Embrace Digital Staff, Web - Embrace Digital Students