The Supreme Court in Britain has ruled on the UK government’s plans for the Rwanda deal, under which people seeking asylum in Britain will be deported to Rwanda. According to the Supreme Court, this plan is legal.

… the Rwandan government agreement is a serious violation of international refugee law and violates the rights of people seeking asylum in the UK.

The Supreme Court ruling upholds the highly controversial policy of forced relocation of refugees to Rwanda as legal. Asylum seekers who enter the UK illegally can be flown to the East African country of Rwanda.

“But the individual circumstances of everyone affected by the scheme must be taken into account,” said Steve Valdez-Symond of Amnesty International UK. The verdict is a bitter pill to swallow. This deal undermines international refugee law.”

This bitter and disappointing decision draws attention to the domestic legal limitations of how the UK can fulfill its obligations under international law. We are deeply concerned that the Rwandan government’s agreement undermines international refugee law and violates the rights of people seeking asylum in the UK.”

Chronically failed asylum procedures

Transporting people thousands of miles away to Rwanda – a country with its own asylum and human rights challenges – is expensive, unfair and cruel.

Despite this verdict, the Rwanda deal must be scrapped entirely. It is a cynical distraction from the urgent need to radically reform chronically failing asylum procedures. The asylum procedure is slow, increasingly chaotic and has displaced thousands of people over the years.

Instead of Rwanda’s disastrous and misleading plan, Suella Braverman (British Home Secretary) must stop playing political games with human life. He must take on the task of fixing the UK’s deeply dysfunctional asylum system and its deeply unfair policies,” said Steve Valdez-Symond.

You can read more about the controversial Rwanda deal here.