On April 22, 2024, British Prime Minister Rami Sunak promised he would start implementing the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty signed with the government of Rwanda on December 05, 2023. This statement implies the beginning of the deportation of asylum seekers arriving in Britain illegally within 10-12 weeks, following the long-awaited parliament vote on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which facilitates the removal process of these people.
The international community strongly criticised this decision, calling on the English government to reconsider the plan’s implementation. Instead, critics invite it to take practical measures to address the irregular flows of refugees and migrants coming to the United Kingdom through international cooperation. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), stated that “the new legislation marks a further step away from the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention. […] This arrangement seeks to shift responsibility for refugee protection, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying global precedent.”
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), shared similar concerns, saying that “by shifting responsibility for refugees […] and limiting the scope of domestic and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the UK and sets a perilous precedent globally.” He then added that “it is critical to the protection of the human rights and dignity of refugees and migrants seeking protection that all removals from the UK are carried out after assessing their specific individual circumstances in strict compliance with international human rights and refugee law.”
Sunak’s decision to carry on with the implementation of the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership is concerning. The provision, which has already been deemed unlawful by the British Supreme Court and the international agencies dealing with asylum seekers and migrants, namely the UNHCR, the OHCHR, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). If implemented, it would set a dangerous precedent and hinder people’s ability to seek refuge in Britain and other countries. By being deported to Rwanda, their rights would not be protected nor respected, and the international standard of nonrefoulement, which guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and other irreparable harm, would not be observed.
This new legislation is the third in a series of increasingly restrictive British laws that have eroded access to refugee protection in the United Kingdom since 2022, reports the UNHCR. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the first law in April 2022, which can send anyone who arrived in Britain illegally after January 1, 2022 to Rwanda, a country 6400km away. After becoming Prime Minister in late 2022, Sunak pledged to carry on with this plan, making “stopping the boats” one of the priorities of his political agenda. Although the British Supreme Court has tried to prevent the implementation of the law, the government seems adamant in pursuing its enforcement as a way to tackle migration into Britain and limit expenses associated with it. It costs more than 3 billion pounds per year to process asylum applications, and 8 million pounds per day on housing migrants awaiting decisions on their status in hotels and other accommodation.
What lies ahead for asylum seekers and migrants coming to the United Kingdom? According to UNHCR, if implemented, the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty would “pave the way for asylum-seekers to be summarily sent to Rwanda to present their asylum claims, with no prospect of return to the UK.” Moreover, the ability for these people to challenge or appeal these decisions would be severely circumscribed, since judges and decision-makers would be required by law to deem Rwanda a “safe” country– regardless of any evidence to the contrary. The public outcry must grow louder, urging the UK to uphold its moral and legal obligations. Only time will tell whether the British government will side with the most vulnerable or keep pursuing its inhumane political agenda. The world is watching.
