London’s High Court on Monday upheld the legality of Britain’s controversial plan to extradite migrants who enter the country illegally to Rwanda. The decision represents a victory for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had as one of his main goals to deal with the record number of refugees who have been trying to enter the island.
The immigration policy was heavily criticized by civil rights groups when it was announced in April. It consists of sending illegal immigrants to seek asylum in Rwanda, a country in the center of the African continent 7,000 kilometers away that has the 160th worst human development index in the world.
The official justification is to make life difficult for criminal organizations that practice human trafficking. In practice, however, the measure is a nod to the Conservative Party electorate, which opposes immigration policies – and a triumph for Sunak, who faces high rates of inflation and announcements of mobilizations and strikes increasingly frequent.
Amnesty International reacted to the announcement by saying it was very concerned about the court’s decision. “The UK government’s agreement with Rwanda undermines international refugee law and tramples on the rights of those seeking asylum in the UK,” said Steve Valdez-Symonds, director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at the group.
Even King Charles III is said to have opposed the policy, describing it as privately “appalling”.
This year saw a record number of illegal immigrants seeking asylum in the UK from the French border. There were more than 40,000 refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Iran and others plagued by constant conflicts.
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