The Tory government’s bids to deport migrants to Rwanda continues to draw criticism from human rights groups. The Migrants’ Rights Network, Amnesty International UK, and Human Rights Watch criticized Rishi Sunak’s latest plan to push the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. The bill has been promulgated to designate Rwanda as a safe country and thereby deter any judicial interventions against the government’s proposal to relocate migrants and asylum seekers. The Bill, which was passed in the House of Commons, is currently being scrutinized by the House of Lords. The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, as well as several lawmakers, have said the Bill is incompatible with the UK’s human rights obligations and international laws.
The UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, signed in April 2022 to relocate undocumented immigrants to Rwanda to process their asylum and resettlement, sparked an international outcry. The first deportation flight to Rwanda, on June 14, 2022, was grounded just minutes before take-off, due to a direct action by activists and an eleventh-hour intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On June 29, 2023, the London Court of Appeal ruled that the UK’s notorious Rwanda asylum plan was illegal.
Under the deal, undocumented migrants in the UK would be relocated to Rwanda to process their asylum and resettlement. The ruling served as a major blow to the anti-refugee policies of the Tory government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled the Partnership illegal and raised concerns about the safety of the asylum seekers in Rwanda, noting that “they may be at risk of being sent back to a country where they may be persecuted, tortured or killed.”
But the Tories continued to push their deal, and on December 5, 2023, the UK government signed a new treaty with Rwanda containing further safeguards over relocation. The incumbent Home Secretary James Cleverly has introduced the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in the House of Commons, to prevent legal challenges to the deportation scheme.
Within the short span of his tenure in his office, Sunak has earned enough notoriety for his anti-refugee schemes, including the ‘Stop the Boat’ policy and plans to house the asylum seekers at barges docked in the UK ports. In July 2023, the Tory government passed the Illegal Migration Act to clamp down on small-boat refugee crossings to the UK through the English Channel. The law encourages the state to detain and deport those who arrive in that country by ‘illegal means’ and block them from returning.
On February 12, Morning Star reported that “under the proposed legislation, judges would be compelled to regard Rwanda as a safe country, thereby limiting the asylum-seekers’ ability to contest their deportation on that basis.” The UK Parliament’s joint committee on Human Rights condemned the Bill as incompatible with international law, including Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, on the right to an effective remedy, which rules that individuals must have access to justice and an impartial tribunal.
Migrants’ Rights Network chief executive Fizza Qureshi told Morning Star that the Rwanda deportation scheme “sets a worrying precedent in UK legislation,” adding, “The UK government is intent on overriding its human rights and refugee protection obligations. It clearly shows the government is prepared to overhaul the judicial system to push through cruel policies.”
