Judge Jonathan Swift rejected a request from a group of asylum seekers for an order that would determine the flight scheduled for Tuesday. However, he said the appeal could be heard on Monday and a full legal challenge to the British government’s new deportation policy to Rwanda is set to take place before the end of July. Britain’s Immigration Minister Pretty Patel welcomed the decision and said the government would “not be discouraged” by further legal challenges. Enver Solomon, chief adviser to the Refugee Council, said he was disappointed with the decision and described the situation as “extremely worrying”. The flight is the first to depart as part of a controversial agreement between the United Kingdom and the East African country. Under the new policy, migrants arriving in the UK as smugglers or in small boats will be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum applications will be processed. If they succeed, they will remain in the African country. Refugee groups say the wider group includes people who fled Syria and Afghanistan and arrived in Britain across the Channel in small boats. As hearings began in London’s Supreme Court, government attorney Matthew Galik said 37 people were due to board Tuesday’s flight, but that six of them had their deportation orders canceled. He said the government still intends to carry out the flight as well as future ones.
Britain paid Rwanda $ 190 million for the deal
According to the UN, such a move violates the International Convention on Refugees. Human rights groups say the deal – for which the United Kingdom has paid Rwanda $ 190 million in advance – is unworkable, inhumane and a waste of British taxpayers’ money. Plaintiff’s lawyer, Raza Husain, said “the system is not secure.” Laura Dubinsky, a lawyer representing the UN refugee agency, said refugees sent to Rwanda under the program were in danger of suffering “serious, irreparable harm”. He said the agency had “serious concerns about Rwanda’s ability to handle arrivals”. Rwanda is the most populous country in Africa. The rivalry for land and resources contributed to decades of ethnic and political tensions culminating in the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsi nationals were killed and moderate Hutus sought to protect them. President Paul Kagame’s government has made significant economic progress since the genocide, but critics say it has come at the cost of political repression. Immigrants wait in a shuttle bus to Dover Harbor after crossing the English Channel in Dover on May 3. Under Britain’s controversial new policy, migrants arriving in the country through unauthorized routes will be sent to Rwanda. (Henry Nicholls / Reuters)
The UK is turning a blind eye to policy risks
James Wilson of Detention Action, one of the groups involved in the case, said the government “turns a blind eye to the many clear dangers and human rights abuses that [the policy] it would affect people seeking asylum. “ The British government maintains that the policy is in the public interest. It seeks to distinguish between refugees arriving through authorized routes, such as programs to assist those fleeing Afghanistan or Ukraine, and those arriving by illicit means, including the dangerous Channel crossings managed by smugglers. The government says it welcomes refugees coming to Britain from approved routes, but wants to shut down criminal smuggling gangs. More than 28,000 migrants entered the UK via the Channel last year, up from 8,500 in 2020. Dozens have lost their lives, including 27 people, in November when a single boat capsized.
