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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on November 19. His government won approval to continue deporting refugees to Rwanda by its High Court on Monday. Photo by Ukrainian President’s Office/UPI
Dec. 19 (UPI) — The British High Court ruled Monday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government can move forward with a controversial plan of sending refugees on a one-way trip to the central African country of Rwanda.
The idea, hatched in April by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will relocate thousands of asylum seekers who aim to reach Britain by crossing the English Channel to Rwanda. Johnson said at the time it would discourage human smuggling and decrease fatal illegal crossings on the waterway.
Opponents, though, argued that it violated international law and cited Rwanda’s lackluster human rights records as cause for concern for arriving refugees.
However, the High Court ruled that the deportations to Rwanda did not breach the United Nations Refugee Convention or other human rights laws. The judges did rule that the cases of eight asylum seekers seeking to stay in Britain, though, had not been “properly considered” and would need to be reviewed again by the lower courts.
“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,” Lord Justice Clive Lewis said.
“[The British government] must decide if there is anything about each person’s particular circumstances which means that his asylum claim should be determined in the United Kingdom or whether there are other reasons why he should not be relocated to Rwanda.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the government was committed to implementing the policy.
“We have always maintained that this policy is lawful and today the court has upheld this,” Braverman said. “I am committed to making this partnership work — my focus remains on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible and we stand ready to defend against any further legal challenge.”
The Sunak government had made it a top objective to discourage English Channel crossings by migrants, especially during the more dangerous winter season. Four people died after a crowded small boat capsized sailing from France to Britain last week.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman called the migration an invasion of Britain’s southern border and the government will move forward with its deportation plan with Rwanda.
Human rights officials have said it is inhumane to force people to live in a land they do not wish to leave, placing them in further danger.
The ruling comes after four people died while trying to cross the English Channel in a crowded dinghy last week.
