UK’s Top Court Rules Rwanda Asylum Policy Unlawful
The British Supreme Court has ruled that a government plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, stating that they would not be safe.
The UK’s highest court issued its unanimous judgement on Wednesday, ruling that the scheme would put asylum seekers at “risk of ill-treatment” because they could be sent back to their home countries once in Rwanda.
Rishi Sunak has vowed to introduce emergency legislation to rescue his stricken policy of removing asylum seekers to Rwanda after the UK Supreme Court ruled against the scheme.
Sunak said at a Downing Street press conference he still intended to put asylum seekers on planes to the African nation “in the spring next year”. He said he would introduce a new law and defy European judges if necessary to make it happen.
Sunak said a new treaty would be agreed with Rwanda to address concerns raised by the Supreme Court and then MPs would be asked to approve legislation to endorse the treaty.
In a unanimous decision, the court’s five justices agreed with the Court of Appeal that there had not been a proper assessment of whether Rwanda was safe.
The court said in its judgment: “There are substantial grounds for believing that the removal of the claimants to Rwanda would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment by reason of refoulement.”
Refoulement is the forced return of asylum seekers to their home countries when they are likely to face persecution.
It said the Rwandan government had entered into the agreement in “good faith” but the evidence cast doubt on its “practical ability to fulfil its assurances, at least in the short term”, to fix “deficiencies” in its asylum system and see through “the scale of the changes in procedure, understanding and culture which are required”.
The Supreme Court decision comes amid the political fallout from the sacking of Suella Braverman on Monday, who, as home secretary had championed the Rwanda policy.
Following the ruling, Mrs Braverman called on Mr Sunak to introduce “emergency legislation” which would block routes of legal challenge, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – which some on the Tory right have called for the UK to withdraw from.
Newly appointed Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Commons on Wednesday the government had been “working on a plan to provide the certainty that the court demands” for “the last few months”.
He said upgrading the agreement to a treaty “will make it absolutely clear to our courts and to Strasbourg that the risks laid out by the court today have been responded to, will be consistent with international law”.
