Judges at UK’s highest court rejected their government’s plans to deport to Rwanda people seeking asylum. The five Judges uphold appeal court ruling to ‘stop the boats’ strategy.
The judges at the supreme court unanimously upheld an appeal court ruling that found there was a real risk of deported refugees having their claims in Rwanda wrongly assessed or being returned to their country of origin to face persecution.
“We conclude that the Court of Appeal… was entitled to find that there are substantial grounds for believing that the removal of the claimants to Rwanda would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment,” they concluded.
The judges agreed with the lower court’s June verdict that the East African country risked forcibly returning asylum seekers and refugees to a country where they could face persecution, in a move known as refoulement.
“Having been taken through the evidence we agree with their conclusion,” they added in their 56-page ruling.
Sunak’s ruling Conservatives have insisted the Rwanda scheme is crucial to reduce “illegal” immigration across the Channel on small boats — an issue set to feature prominently in the next general election.
In response, the Rwandan Government has dismissed claims saying that it is unsafe for refugees following a Supreme Court ruling in the United Kingdom which found the country’s plan to send refugees and asylum seekers to the East African country as unlawful.
“This is ultimately a decision for the UK’s judicial system. However, we do take issue with the ruling that Rwanda is not a safe third country for asylum seekers and refugees, in terms of refoulement. Rwanda and the UK have been working together to ensure the integration of relocated asylum seekers into Rwandan society,” said Yolande Makolo, Rwanda’s government spokesperson.
“Rwanda is committed to its international obligations, and we have been recognized by the UNHCR and other international institutions for our exemplary treatment of refugees,” Makolo said shortly after the ruling.
This ruling ends a saga that began in April last year when Britain signed a deal with Rwanda to send undocumented migrants to interim centers there, and leaves the UK leader’s immigration agenda in tatters.
It is also set to widen rifts in the ruling Tory party between right-wing lawmakers and moderates.
Sunak said the ruling was “not the outcome we wanted” and the government “will now consider next steps” while ministers in Kigali “take issue” with the ruling that Rwanda was not a safe third country.
