Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s contentious plan to send some migrants on one-way trip to Rwanda is illegal, striking a major blow to a key policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government that has drawn international attention and criticism.
Five justices on the country’s top court said asylum-seekers would be “at real risk of ill-treatment” because they could be sent back to their home countries once they were in Rwanda.
Britain and Rwanda signed a deal in April 2022 to send some migrants who arrive in the UK across the English Channel to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay.
Britain’s government argues that the Rwanda policy will deter people from risking their lives crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and will break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.
Last minute stop
Opposition politicians, refugee groups and human rights organizations say the plan is unethical and unworkable.
No one has yet been sent to the Rwanda as the plan was challenged in the courts.
Reading the unanimous decision, President of the Supreme Court Robert Reed said Rwanda could not be relied on to keep the promises not to mistreat asylum-seekers sent from Britain.
The first deportation flight was stopped at the last minute in June 2022, when the European Court of Human Rights intervened.
Safe third country
In December, the High Court in London ruled the UK plan was illegal but that the government must consider the individual circumstances of each case before putting anyone on a plane.
The Court of Appeal in June backed a challenge by asylum-seekers from countries including Syria, Vietnam and Iran.
The court ruled that the plan was unlawful because Rwanda is not a “safe third country” and there was a risk that migrants sent there would be returned to the home countries they had fled.
That was challenged at the Supreme Court by the government, which argued at a hearing last month that it had thoroughly assessed the risks and would ensure that Rwanda’s government abides by its agreement to protect migrants’ rights.
This year more than 27,000 people have arrived in Britain on small boats without permission, after a record 45,755 were detected in 2022.
