London, Thanasis Gavos

London’s High Court has ruled that the British government’s plan to send migrants and refugees who want to claim asylum after arriving in the UK through irregular routes to Rwanda is illegal.

The plan provided that these people should apply for asylum in the African country and start a new life there if it was approved.

The High Court upheld the decision of the London Court of Appeal four months ago that the plan was not legal as Rwanda is not considered a “safe third country”.

As noted by the judges, there are “substantial reasons” to consider that the migrants would be at “real risk of ill-treatment”, as there are incidents that cast doubt on the smooth democratic functioning of the institutions in the African country.

The decision of the Supreme Court recommends a major blow to the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak, as the Rwanda plan was central to the prime minister’s plan to stem migration flows to the UK.

The policy of taking irregular migrants to Rwanda to apply for asylum there was pushed by Boris Johnson’s government and the then Home Secretary Priti Patel, but had also been strongly supported by the recently sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The first flight with migrants to the African country in June 2022 it had been prevented after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, which has jurisdiction over the European Convention on Human Rights, invoked by the measure’s opponents.

In December 2022, the High Court of London ruled the measure legalsaying it was consistent with the UK’s obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

In June 2023following an appeal by the humanitarian organization Asylum Aid, the Court of Appeal in London overturned the first-instance decision, ruling that Rwanda was not a safe third country to send asylum seekers to.

In reading out the reasoning for the much-anticipated decision on Wednesday morning, Chief Justice Lord Rinnet noted that the examination of the legality of the measure concerned not only the European Convention on Human Rights, but also various treaties of the United Nations.

This note is considered important because the supporters of the measure, prominently Ms. Braverman and the MPs of the far right wing of the Tories, claim that Britain could withdraw from the Convention and that this would be enough for the implementation of the measure.

Before the announcement of the decision of the Supreme Court, Downing Street circles had reported that Prime Minister Sunak is considering various alternatives in the event of a court rejection of the Rwanda land plan.