Rwanda asylum policy’s court ruling labelled ‘a victory for humanity’

The Prime Minister’s ‘stop the boats’ immigration policy has been rejected by the UK’s highest court after five judges uncovered severe issues with it.

On Wednesday 15^th November, the Supreme Court ruled against Rishi Sunak’s immigration policy, which, aimed to send asylum seekers to Rwanda instead of having them illegally travel to England via boat. Five judges found there was a risk of deported refugees having their claims in the east African country wrongly assessed or being returned to their country of origin to face persecution.  

When reading out the judgement, Lord Reed, the president of the Supreme Court, pointed to crucial evidence from the United Nations’ refugee agency, the UNHCR, which outlined the failure of a similar deportation agreement between Israel and Rwanda.

However, news of the court rejecting Mr Sunak’s policy, which came just two days after he reshuffled his cabinet – a move that saw James Cleverly take the role of new home secretary – undermines one of the prime minister’s key pledges: to ‘stop the boats’.

In response to the ruling, Rishi Sunak said: ‘This was not the outcome we wanted, but we haven’t spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats.

‘Crucially, the supreme court – like the court of appeal and the high court before it – has confirmed that the principle of sending illegal migrants to a safe third country for processing is lawful.’

Although, Steve Smith, chief executive of the refugee charity Care4Calais, has called the judgement a ‘victory for humanity’.

‘This grubby, cash-for-people deal was always cruel and immoral but, most importantly, it is unlawful,’ Steve said. ‘Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent on this cruel policy, and the only receipts the government has are the pain and torment inflicted on the thousands of survivors of war, torture and modern slavery they have targeted with it.’

Steve added: ‘[The] judgment should bring this shameful mark on the UK’s history to a close. Never again should our government seek to shirk our country’s responsibility to offer sanctuary to those caught up in horrors around the world.’

Despite Steve’s emotive words that also echo the views of other across the country, the home secretary, James Cleverly, said: ‘Our partnership with Rwanda, while bold and ambitious, is just one part of a vehicle of measures to stop the boats and tackle illegal migration.

‘But clearly there is an appetite for this concept. Across Europe, illegal migration is increasing, and governments are following our lead: Italy, Germany and Austria are all exploring models similar to our partnership with Rwanda.’

Image: Matteo Paganelli

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