Demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court in London Wednesday to protest the government’s Rwanda asylum policy as judges inside upheld a ruling by a lower court that the scheme was unlawful. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE
Nov. 15 (UPI) — Britain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the government to overturn a ruling that its controversial plans to deport asylum seekers who arrive in the country without permission to Rwanda were illegal.
The judges concurred 5-0 to uphold a decision by the Court of Appeal in June that the policy was unlawful due to a “real risk” of refugees having their claims in the east African nation wrongly denied, or being sent back to the country they were fleeing in the first place to face persecution or other abuses.
Under the plan, people were supposed to be able to claim asylum in Rwanda, return home, or seek asylum in a third country other than Britain, but the justices said Rwanda was still deporting asylum seekers to countries they had fled even after signing the asylum partnership treaty with Britain in April 2022.
Reading out the judgment, Supreme Court president Lord Reed cited evidence from the U.N. Refugee Agency detailing a similar failed agreement between Israel and Rwanda.
The decision throws into disarray a migration strategy, the heart of which was the government’s $175 million agreement with Rwanda aimed at deterring the tens of thousands of people crossing the Channel in small boats each year.
“Stopping the boats” was one of five key pledges for a more secure and prosperous Britain set by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January after taking over from Liz Truss in October 2022.
Speaking in the House of Commons after Wednesday’s ruling, Sunak said the government would seek a new agreement with Rwanda but that, if necessary, he would be prepared to change laws that allow legal challenges brought under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.
He said his government would put new plans before parliament “in the coming days” and that the wording of the revised agreement would provide the “reassurance” required.
Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson said the government should “ignore the laws” and deport asylum seekers immediately upon arrival in Britain.
“Just put the planes in the air now and send them to Rwanda. I think the British people have been very patient, I’ve been very patient, and now they’re demanding action. And this has sort of forced our hand a little bit now.
“It’s time for the government to show real leadership and send them back, same day.”
The leader of the Labor Party opposition Keir Starmer called the government’s policy a “ridiculous, pathetic spectacle.”
“Rishi Sunak wasted $175 million of taxpayers’ money on his unlawful Rwanda scheme. Only Labor has a proper plan to go after criminal smuggling gangs and clear the Tory asylum backlog.”
Charities called for the scheme to be scrapped completely.