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UK court grants permission to appeal over Rwanda policy

British judges gave the go-ahead for the Court of Appeal to consider challenges to the UK government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after human rights groups sounded the alarm over the policy.

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The government signed a $170 million deal with Rwanda under which anyone deemed to have entered the UK illegally since January 1 last year can be deported to the African nation.

Two appeal court judges in London have ruled that a legal challenge can be mounted against the UK government's controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The High Court concluded last month that the proposal, introduced to cut record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, was lawful.

But Asylum Aid, a charity supporting asylum seekers, was told on Monday it can ask the Court of Appeal to reconsider aspects of the judgment.

That includes whether the High Court judges were wrong to find there were sufficient safeguards to prevent asylum seekers from being sent to a country where they were at risk of persecution.

It can also argue its case that the scheme is "systematically unfair".

While no date has been set for the appeal hearing, lawyer Carolin Ott, representing Asylum Aid, said: "We look forward to presenting our client's case that the procedure adopted by the Home Office to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unfair and consequently unlawful."

Controversial policy

The Conservative government struck a deportation agreement with Rwanda last year that is intended to deter migrants from trying to reach the UK on risky journeys across the English Channel.

More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain across the Channel in 2022, and several died in the attempt.

The UK plans to send some migrants who arrive in the country as stowaways or in small boats to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in the East African country rather than return to Britain.

In a 139-page ruling, Lord Justice Lewis said the controversial policy, first introduced under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was "consistent with the refugee convention.”

Human rights groups say it is immoral and inhumane to send people more than 6,400 kilometres to a country they don’t want to live in. They also cite Rwanda’s poor human rights record, including allegations of torture and killings of government opponents.

Pushing back against criticisms, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she wants to press on with the deportation policy “as soon as possible,” adding that the government stands ready to defend the policy “against any further legal challenge.”

Some non-governmental organisations even fear that the current government may withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights to avoid further legal challenges to its policy, as domestically UK courts are not expected to call off the policy.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies