Deportation of Asylum Seekers to Rwanda Found Illegal in Court of Appeal

The UK Government’s controversial immigration policy which was set to relocate migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims were processed was declared by majority vote to be
unlawful by the Court of Appeal on the 29th June 2023.

Ten appellants from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Vietnam and Albania, and charity Asylum Aid,
launched their appeal following their proposed removal to Rwanda as decided by the
Government in June 2022. The decision was lawful at the time following the £140 million
Memorandum of Understanding arranged between the UK and Rwanda’s governments.
The appeal rested predominantly on the declaration of Rwanda as a “safe third country”. It
was argued that the asylum system in Rwanda may not deliver reliable outcomes, with
grounds to believe that people with a good claim for asylum may in fact be sent to their
home countries where they have faced persecution or inhumane treatment.

Appellants would be found to be unsuccessful on several grounds including the retention of EU law under which it is unlawful to remove asylum seekers to safe third countries to which they have no connection. This law did not apply due to the EU Withdrawal Act 2020.
The case resulted in the majority, including the Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos and
Lord Justice Underhill concluding that sending any asylum seekers to Rwanda would
constitute a breach of article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights as mandated in the Human Rights Act 1998. This was due to Rwanda at present being unable to meet the requirements of classification as “safe”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to challenge the appeal, going on the record saying
“While I respect the court I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions. The policy of this government is simple, it is this country – and your government – who should decide who
comes here, not criminal gangs, and I will do whatever is necessary to make that happen.”
The PM has also reiterated this in further statements to the Liaison Committee, promising to fight the ruling “vigorously” and expressing confidence that the plan is legal in spite of the Court of Appeal’s judgement.

Attorney General Victoria Prentis has hinted at the nature of these plans, saying “The
Government is going to make robust arguments before the Supreme Court and will be
applying for permission later today [06/07/2023]”. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK and this is particularly significant as they have opposed government policies in recent years, notably ruling the five-week prorogation of Parliament unlawful in September of 2019, and Miller 1 and 2 ruling that withdrawal from the EU could not be initiated without an Act of Parliament, and rendering Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament unlawful.

Political opponents are calling for Sunak to scrap the policy altogether, with Yvette Cooper,
the home affairs spokesperson for Labour, saying, “The Rwanda scheme is unworkable,
unethical, and extortionate.” There has also been considerable public outcry against the policy from its introduction, with the recent government estimates that it would cost an average of £169, 000 per asylum seeker removed to Rwanda (up to £63, 000 more per person than allowing them to stay in the UK) raising economic issues as well as moral ones.

The full press release can be found here.

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