UK: High court rules government plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda 'lawful'

A high court in the United Kingdom this week ruled that the British government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was lawful. However, the court also questioned whether the government considered the individual circumstances of the migrants looking to enter the UK on asylum claims.

Judges on the high court ruled on Monday that the plan by the British government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was lawful. While the ruling was in favor of the government, the judges also questioned whether the government failed to consider the individual circumstances of asylum seekers that are being deported. A court hearing is set for January, with appeals to the ruling likely.

“The Court has concluded that it is lawful for the government to make arrangements for relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be determined in Rwanda rather than in the United Kingdom,” said Judge Clive Lewis, adding that the government must determine if each claim’s circumstances should be granted in the UK or whether there are other grounds why they should not be brought to Rwanda instead.

“The Home Secretary has not properly considered the circumstances of the eight individual claimants whose cases we have considered,” said Lewis.

The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by several asylum seekers, aid groups, and a border officials’ union to block the Conservative government from enforcing a deportation agreement with Rwanda that would see refugees who travel to the UK on boats sent to the East African nation.

The asylum seekers would then have to make their asylum claims there, and those who were not granted asylum would be able to stay on other grounds or get relocated to another country.

The issue of migration has long dogged the governing Conservative party, with the country receiving thousands of migrants travelling on small boats.

On Sunday, British police said a teenager was charged with abetting illegal immigration after a boat with dozens of asylum seekers aboard capsized in the English Channel. Four died from the incident. The teenager is currently in custody and is set to appear in court in Folkestone on Monday.