VoteClimate: Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - 18th March 2024

Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - 18th March 2024

Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.

Full text: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-03-18/debates/CBCCA842-22CA-43F6-AE27-B635BD8D7264/SafetyOfRwanda(AsylumAndImmigration)Bill

18:00 Alexander Stafford (Hartlepool) (Con)

I, too, have detailed notes of our meeting with the people from UNHCR. The hon. Lady is right to say that the UNHCR said quite clearly that it thinks that the United kingdom is shirking its responsibilities, and actually so do I. That is my personal belief. I base that on the number of refugees there are in the world: there are more than 100 million displaced people and more than 36 million refugees in the world. Really quite a small number of them make their way to the shores of the United Kingdom. There will be a hell of a lot more in the years to come because of climate change, and my very firm belief is that the United Kingdom needs to shoulder its responsibilities as one of the richer countries in the world, rather than shuffling these people off on to a country such as Rwanda which, as we saw, has made great strides, but it cannot be compared with the United Kingdom in wealth.

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19:30 Kevin Foster (Mr Nigel Evans)

Last week the Minister kindly accepted an invitation to visit Glasgow—something none of his predecessors has been prepared to do. I hope that when he comes, he will meet and listen to some of my constituents who are supported by the Maryhill Integration Network, Refuweegee, Glasgow Afghan United and other organisations that work with refugees and asylum seekers to make them welcome in the city. He will see how people who have come here on small boats, on the backs of lorries or through other irregular means have not done so for purely economic reasons. They have come fleeing war, climate change, persecution and many other situations barely imaginable to many of us who live in relative comfort and safety in Scotland and in the UK. All they want is to be safe and to be able to contribute to their new community and society.

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