The British Supreme Court on Tuesday considered “illegal” the British Government’s plan to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda, coinciding with fears that it is not a safe destination.
Announced a year and a half ago, during the Boris Johnson Government, the objective was to send some immigrants who arrived in the United Kingdom as stowaways or in small boats across the English Channel to the East African country, where their asylum applications.
Those granted asylum would stay in Rwanda rather than return to the UK.
The British government argued that this policy was aimed at deterring people from risking their lives crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and would destroy the business model of people smuggling groups.
Reading the ruling, Judge Robert Reed explained that the issue in this case was “whether there are substantial reasons to believe that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda would be at real risk of refoulement,” that is, forcible return to the countries of origin. , where they would be at risk of persecution and other inhuman treatment.
“The Court of Appeal concluded that such reasons existed. We are unanimously of the opinion that it was entitled to reach that conclusion. In fact, having analyzed the evidence ourselves, we agree with that conclusion,” he stressed, expressing the decision of the group of five judges.
No one has yet been sent to Rwanda because the plan has been suspended by the courts.
The first deportation flight was stopped at the last minute in June 2022 following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights.
In December, the High Court in London ruled that the Rwanda plan was legal, but that the Government must consider the individual circumstances of each case before putting anyone on a plane.
In June, the Court of Appeal accepted a challenge brought by asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Vietnam and Iran and ruled that the plan was illegal, considering that Rwanda is not a “safe third country” and there was a risk that the Immigrants are returned to the countries of origin from which they had fled.
Opposition politicians, refugee groups and human rights organizations said the plan was neither ethical nor feasible.
The decision was challenged by the Government before the Supreme Court, the last judicial instance (equivalent to the Constitutional Court in Portugal), which again ruled against the executive.
The decision marks a setback for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who chose “stopping the boats” as one of his priorities.
Sunak said the flow has slowed this year, even though more than 27,000 migrants have arrived illegally on British soil in small boats through the English Channel since January.
Since 2018, more than 110 thousand have been registered, including a record of more than 45 thousand in 2022.
The consequences of crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping routes can be tragic.
In August, six migrants died and around 50 had to be rescued when their boat capsized after leaving the northern coast of France.
In November 2021, 27 people died after a ship sank.
Source: TSF
