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A British court has declared the government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda as unlawful. The court of appeal ruling from Lord Burnett, Sir Geoffrey Vos, and Lord Justice Underhill came on Thursday, which refused to consider Rwanda as a “safe third country” where illegal migrants could be sent while their claims are processed.
The ruling is a major setback for the UK government, which last December got the green light from a high court to pursue its Rwanda deportation scheme. However, that ruling stands overturned now. In response, the UK government is expected to approach the country’s Supreme Court.
To deter migrants from crossing the English Channel and embarking on a perilous journey, the UK government and the Rwandan authorities reached a £120m agreement last April to transport asylum seekers to the African nation while their asylum claims in the UK are processed. Those granted asylum would stay in Rwanda rather than return to the UK, as per the deal.
However, now judges have ruled that Rwanda could not be considered safe for the migrants. The judges concluded, “The result is that the High Court's decision that Rwanda was a safe third country is reversed, and unless and until the deficiencies in its asylum process are corrected, removal of asylum seekers will be unlawful.”
Those among the critics of the scheme are the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR, lawyers, charities and a group of asylum seekers. They question Rwanda’s human rights credentials while doubting that Home Office would be in a position to ensure that the rights of migrants in the East African nation are protected.
UNHCR told the British court that Rwanda had a record of human rights abuses towards refugees within its borders, including refoulement.
However, Sir James Eadie KC, counsel for the home secretary, Suella Braverman, has dismissed all these concerns, saying that the secretary was confident the government of Rwanda would respect the memorandum of understanding signed by the two nations.
Not a single migrant sent to Rwanda so far
The policy, initially implemented by the Boris Johnson administration and continued by subsequent leaders, aims to address the issue of small boat crossings in the Channel.
Despite its implementation, no individuals have undertaken the journey so far. In June of the previous year, a flight was halted at the last moment due to an appeal made to the European Court of Human Rights.
