In blow to PM Sunak, UK court rules Rwanda deportation plan unlawful

In a major setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a British court has ruled that the government’s controversial plan to deport and send asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is unlawful as the African nation cannot be considered a safe third country.

Three senior appeal judges on Thursday ruled by a majority that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe third country.

They said asylum seekers “would face a real risk of being returned to their countries of origin,” where they could be mistreated.

“The deficiencies in the asylum system in Rwanda are such that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk that persons sent to Rwanda will be returned to their home countries where they face persecution or other inhumane treatment,” judge Ian Burnett said.

 Sunak on Thursday said the government would apply to the UK Supreme Court to challenge the ruling. "While I respect the court I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions," he said, insisting: "Rwanda is a safe country... We will now seek permission to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court."

In December, the High Court ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision was challenged by asylum seekers from several countries.

The British government has been planning to deport asylum seekers to the East African country as part of a 120 million pound ($148m) deal to deter people from crossing the English Channel from France in small boats.

Human rights groups say it is inhumane to send people 6,400 kilometers to a country they don’t want to live in, and argue that most Channel migrants are desperate people who have no authorized way to come to the UK.

 They also cite Rwanda’s poor human rights record, including allegations of torture and killings of government opponents.

More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain across the Channel in 2022, and several died in the attempt. Over 11,000 have arrived so far this year.

Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats”  and other small craft that make the journey from northern France carrying migrants who hope to live in the UK. He  is hoping a fall in arrivals might help his Conservative Party pull off an unexpected win at the next national election.

Under the deal struck last year, the London government planned to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the East African country.

Britain has already paid Rwanda 140 million pounds ($170 million) under the deal, but no one has yet been deported there.

The first planned deportation flight was blocked a year ago in a last-minute ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). 

UK deportation flight to Rwanda grounded after European Court steps in

Britain’s plan to send the first group of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been stalled after the European human rights court issued last-minute injunctions to stop the deportation.

The government said this week that sending each asylum seeker to Rwanda would cost on average 169,000 pounds ($213,450).

Political opponents said the government should scrap the policy, with the Liberal Democrats calling it “immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for taxpayers” and a “vanity project” for Braverman.

Opponents also say the government’s policies were about driving political support and will not solve underlying issues.

Sunak has made “stop the boats” one of five priorities and is hoping a fall in arrivals might help his Conservative Party pull off an unexpected win at the next national election.

UK under criticism over plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda

The United Kingdom has come under harsh criticism over its plan to send illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

In the meantime, the ruling is a huge blow for the administration of Sunak who is dealing with high levels of inflation, and declining public support and is under increasing pressure from his own party and the public to deal with migrant arrivals in small boats. 

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