Compassion and care needed over asylum policy - The Yorkshire Post says

But that is not to say that campaigners against the proposals don’t have legitimate concerns about the human rights record of Rwanda.

It has become vogue for certain politicians to reckless talk of ditching human rights to appear to be tough. Yet the reality is that human rights are sacrosanct and even if we take them for granted in this country, there are those who have no choice but to flee to seek theirs. To abandon that principle would leave the country morally compromised and hurt our standing in the world.

Asylum seekers would be sent on a one-way ticket to Rwanda for them to claim asylum there under the plan. If these proposals do go ahead, then the Government must consider each case with care, ensuring that deportations are not only lawful but also compassionate.

The Government has already fallen short of this expectation with the High Court saying that the cases of eight individual asylum seekers hadn't been properly considered by the home secretary when they were earmarked for the first Rwanda flight.

It cannot repeat the mistakes of the Windrush scandal that several people deported unjustly.

The Government claims that the Rwanda scheme is to act as a deterrent against people crossing the English Channel illegally. However, if that was the case then the number of people using this route would have dropped when the policy was announced. That hasn’t been the case. Instead the Government would be far better served tackling the criminal gangs who facilitate these dangerous crossings. By doing so, it would save countless lives.