Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza says her banning shows President Kagame does not adhere to international law

A Rwandan opposition leader who has been banned from standing for election has cast doubt on whether her government will stick to the terms of the deportation deal agreed with Rishi Sunak.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza told the Guardian that the Rwandan government’s refusal to allow her to stand or leave the country to see her ill husband showed that the government under Paul Kagame did not adhere to international law.

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Rishi Sunak’s rightward journey on asylum is turning the UK into a darker place

The prospect of people who have come to the UK seeking asylum being deported to Rwanda has moved a step closer, one week after the Safety of Rwanda Act was voted into law. On Monday the Home Office began an operation to detain people in dedicated centres, sooner than most had anticipated. A statement described the rounding-up of potential deportees as “the final phase of operationalising this landmark policy”.

The plan is for the first flights to take off in 10 to 12 weeks. Arrangements in Rwanda, including the 50-room “ Hope hostel ” near Kigali airport, have been made in accordance with the deal signed two years ago.

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Supporters of the Rwanda deportation scheme fail to understand the lessons of Australia

‘It underscores why you need a deterrent.” So claimed Rishi Sunak in response to the Channel tragedy last week that led to the deaths of five migrants off the coast of France, hours after the “ Safety of Rwanda Bill ”, Sunak’s “deterrent”, passed its final parliamentary hurdle.

“Deterrence” has become the magic word to ease through every immigration policy, however cynical, cruel or unworkable. There is only one problem. When it comes to immigration, deterrence does not deter. “The available evidence suggests that the deterrent effect of asylum policies tends to be small,” observes Oxford University’s Migration Observatory . However tough they may seem, concluded a study from the development thinktank ODI, “deterrent policies… have virtually no effect on people’s behaviour ”. Those seeking to cross the Channel “have already travelled thousands of miles and spent thousands of pounds getting to that point”; they are “unlikely to drastically rethink their ‘migration project’, regardless of how strict the UK’s border controls become”.

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UK PM points to Irish deputy PM’s claim that threat of being deported led people to cross border from Northern Ireland

An increase in asylum seekers heading to to Ireland proves that the Conservative party’s Rwanda plan is working, Rishi Sunak has claimed.

In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that will air on Sunday morning, the prime minister said the “deterrent is already having an impact because people are worried about coming here”.

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Beware of ‘ Tetchy Rishi ’ – the prime minister struggles to control his anger during the Rwanda bill press briefing (1m24s); David Harewood on acting, racism and mental health (9m08s); Phil Daoust’s surprisingly simple solution to insomnia hell (24m33s); and Stuart Heritage examines the dangerous fallout from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer (42m29s)

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Plan ‘betrayal’ of values, says French president in speech covering defence, Europe’s waning influence and negative effects of Brexit

• Europe live – latest updates

Emmanuel Macron has criticised migration policies that involve sending migrants to African countries as “a betrayal of our [European] values”, just days after the UK government passed its Rwanda deportation bill.

The French president made the remarks in a wide-ranging speech on Thursday aimed at warning Europe against over-dependence on other countries for security and trade.

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Home secretary visits Lampedusa in Italy as National Audit Office says scheme could surpass £580m by 2030

Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified.

James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had booked a succession of initial flights and was preparing to order the detention of people seeking refuge in the UK so they could be sent to east Africa.

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Legislation to go back to Commons due to peers standing up for rights of Afghans and scrutiny of refugees’ treatment

The parliamentary battle over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill will spill into next week after the Lords refused to budge over the rights of Afghans and scrutiny of the treatment of refugees in east Africa.

The move prompted an immediate backlash from the home secretary, James Cleverly, who blamed Labour for blocking the bill and being “terrified” that the Rwanda plan will stop asylum seekers from travelling to the UK in small boats.

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Paul Kagame flew to UK for Champions League match while national police told citizens to restrict activities including football

The president of Rwanda, whose police force has asked the country’s populace to restrict football-related activities during the 30-year anniversary of the Rwanda massacre, is facing questions after flying to the UK and watching Arsenal play Bayern Munich.

Paul Kagame visited on Tuesday 9 April to watch the Champions League match in north London. Before the match, he visited Rishi Sunak at No 10 Downing Street, after giving civil servants just a few days’ notice of his visit. They discussed the UK’s deportation deal, which aims to send asylum seekers to Kigali to be processed there.

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