British justice rules legal plan to deport migrants to Rwanda
The Boeing 767 which was to bring migrants to Rwanda, at the Amesbury military base, on June 14, 2022, and which was finally cancelled.
© JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This agreement signed last April provides that Rwanda welcomes migrants refused by the United Kingdom on its soil.
While it is presented as an "
unprecedented
" partnership in terms of migration policy, the UN and several associations denounce a violation of international law.
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Last June, just hours before take-off,
the European Court of Human Rights blocked the first flight
from London that was supposed to deport around 30 migrants to Rwanda.
This court had declared that no plane would leave for Kigali until the British courts had ruled on the legality of such an agreement.
Six months later, the High Court in London therefore ruled on Monday morning following appeals by migrant aid associations, such as Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid, as well as the public service union PCS: the agreement is deemed “legal”, it does not contradict the Geneva Convention for Refugees.
“
The court found that it is legal for the UK government to put in place arrangements to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and have their asylum claims considered in Rwanda rather than the UK
,” according to a summary of the judgment issued by the High Court.
Controversial project
In April, Boris Johnson's government reached an agreement with Kigali to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally on British soil to Rwanda.
A policy intended to discourage crossings of the English Channel in small boats.
A first victory for a controversial project: the United Kingdom must pay 145 million euros to Rwanda.
What finance housing, training and education of migrants against their relocation on Rwandan soil.
London is accused of outsourcing its migration policy, of taking advantage of a legal vagueness on international law too.
Vincent Biruta, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, for his part responded to the criticisms of human rights violations formulated by associations by praising on the contrary the "
strong tradition
" of reception of his country and its classification among the safest in the world.
The next flights will not take off immediately: the time that British justice examines other possible remedies.
►Also read: The British divided on the deportation of migrants to Rwanda on the eve of the first flight
"
We welcome this decision and are ready to offer asylum seekers and migrants security and the possibility of building a new life in Rwanda
," Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told AFP, calling her a "
positive step
" to solving the global migration crisis.
(
With
AFP)
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