UK plan to deport migrants to Rwanda unlawful, lawyers for asylum seekers say

Lawyers representing migrants claiming asylum in the United Kingdom told a court that the British government’s plan to deport them to Rwanda is unlawful. The lawyers cited safety issues with the East African country.

The lawyers representing a group of asylum seekers told the London Court of Appeal on Monday that the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda is unlawful, citing safety issues. The lawyers said that the government’s argument that Rwanda is a “safe third country” is flawed due to the fact that Rwanda is an authoritarian, one-party country that did not tolerate opposition and murdered political opponents.

“There will only be any form of deterrent effect if a third country to which asylum seekers are removed is one to which they would not wish to go,” said one of the lawyers, Raza Husain, adding that the government failed to strike a balance between deterring migrants and adhering to the country’s human rights obligations.

The lawyers representing the British government said the migrant deal with Rwanda is “subject to an exacting set of monitoring arrangements,” including by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who has already intervened in the appeal. The lawyers said in court filings that proof of Rwanda’s asylum system was not relevant as it has no bearing on how migrants claiming asylum would be dealt with under the deal.

Rwanda has said that migrants who would be sent to the country will be treated with respect and dignity and that the deal with the UK will provide them with better opportunities. One of the three judges hearing the case, Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett, said that the main issue of the deal would be the safety of Rwanda.

This comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seeking to reduce the number of migrants arriving in the country in small boats seeking asylum. Sunak’s government wants to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda as part of the deal that was agreed upon last year.

Friday last week, the government said it would seek measures to limit the ability of the courts to block its plans to deport illegal migrants as part of the changes to the proposed legislation that is set to be brought to parliament in the coming days.

“To speed up removals, amendments will make clear that the UK’s domestic courts cannot apply any interim measure to stop someone being removed if they bring forward a legal challenge aside from…where they are at risk of serious and irreversible harm,” said the interior ministry in a statement.