UK appeals court rules that plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful

London: A British court ruled Thursday that a government plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is unlawful, delivering a blow to the Conservative administration’s pledge to stop migrants making risky journeys across the English Channel.

In a split two-to-one ruling, three Court of Appeal judges said Rwanda could not be considered a “safe third country” where migrants could be sent.

But the judges said that a policy of deporting asylum seekers to another country was not in itself illegal, and the government said it would challenge the ruling at the U.K. Supreme Court. It has until July 6 to lodge an appeal.

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This undated photo provided by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals shows Rwanda genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema. Kayishema, one of the most wanted suspects in Rwanda’s genocide who is suspected of orchestrating the killing of more than 2,000 people, has been arrested in South Africa after 22 years on the run, a special tribunal set up by the United Nations said Thursday, May 25, 2023. (International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals via AP)

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that “while I respect the court I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions.”

Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats” — a reference to the overcrowded dinghies and other small craft that make the journey from northern France carrying migrants who hope to live in the U.K. More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain across the Channel in 2022, and several died in the attempt.

The U.K. and Rwandan governments agreed more than a year ago that some migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in small boats would be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in the East African country rather than return to Britain.

The U.K. government argues that the policy will smash the business model of criminal gangs that ferry migrants on hazardous journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Human rights groups say it is immoral and inhumane to send people more than 4,000 miles (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 U.K. They also cite Rwanda’s poor human rights record, including allegations of torture and killings of government opponents.

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