The High Court in London ruled “legal” the highly controversial plan of the British government to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to Rwanda, at a time when the number of Channel crossings by migrants has never been so high.
“The Court found that it is lawful for the UK government to put in place arrangements to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and have their asylum claims considered in Rwanda rather than the UK”, according to a summary of the judgment published by the High Court. It considered that the provisions planned by the government do not contravene the Convention on Refugees.
Discourage Channel crossings
In April, Boris Johnson’s government reached an agreement with Kigali to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally on British soil to Rwanda. A policy intended to discourage crossings of the English Channel in small boats.
No deportation has yet taken place – a first flight scheduled for June was canceled after a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – but the government of Rishi Sunak is continuing this policy.
The decision handed down on Monday, December 19 concerned the appeal of migrant aid associations, as well as the public service union PCS. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees even intervened in the case, arguing that “the minimum components of a reliable and fair asylum system” are lacking in Rwanda and that such a policy would lead to “serious risk of violations” of the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees.
Project “cruel”
The Conservatives have made the fight against illegal immigration, which was a Brexit promise, one of their priorities. But never before have so many migrants crossed the Channel on small boats.
Since the start of the year, around 45,000 migrants have thus arrived on the English coast, compared to 28,526 in 2021. And four migrants, including a teenager, lost their lives attempting the crossing on December 14, just over one year after the death of 27 people.
In September, before the start of the hearing, the general secretary of the PCS union, Mark Serwotka, had judged the deportation of migrants to Rwanda “not only immoral but illegal”. He urged the Interior Ministry to “Abandon its hostile approach towards refugees”.
For the Care4Calais association, this government project is « cruel ». “Refugees who have endured the horrors of war, torture and persecution will now face the immense trauma of deportation and an unknown future. This will cause them immeasurable fear, anguish and distress. »
At the hearing, government lawyers claimed that the agreement with Rwanda ensured that those who would be deported there would benefit from a procedure for determining their refugee status. “safe and effective”.
At the beginning of October, the very right-wing interior minister, Suella Braverman, had shared her ” dream “ for Christmas : ” See (…) a plane take off for Rwanda. » “I sincerely wish that we will be able to implement the Rwanda program”she said in an interview with Times Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed that his government would resume the plan, when announcing a range of measures to solve the crisis in the currently overwhelmed asylum system.