Lawyers for asylum seekers in the United Kingdom (UK) informed the London High Court on Tuesday that several government reports and memos gave prior warnings that the UK-Rwanda Migration deal would be “unenforceable” and present a very serious “fraud risk.”
The revelations highlight that in February last year, the erstwhile British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Joanne Lomas, advised against deporting refugees to the East African nation, as it has been repeatedly accused of “recruiting refugees to conduct armed operations in neighbouring countries.” Lomas added that Kigali has a “poor human rights record” and has allegedly indulged in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture.
Furthermore, Foreign Office officials expressed concerns over choosing Rwanda as the potential resettlement location, arguing that it would significantly “constrain UK positions on Rwanda’s human rights record.”
In fact, a Home Secretary representative said that such “an asylum processing agreement could potentially place us in an awkward situation if the (Rwandan) government threatened to suspend it if we did not comply with their expectations,” noting that the UK has been a “critical friend” of the nation in raising violations of political space.
Catching up with cross party Home Office Select Committee report into small boats crossings and Rwanda. Three points it makes on govt’s Rwanda plan:
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) July 19, 2022
1) says it’s not clear that it will have disincentive effect. Invites govt to set out evidential basis for their claim it will.
Additionally, a Foreign Office memo dated 20 May 2021 asserted that the host country lacked a “functioning asylum system in compliance with Refugee Convention obligations.” Another document emphasised on the potential for deportees to be subjected to “torture or degrading treatment.”
Notably even the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has intervened in the ongoing proceedings and voiced its opposition over “serious concerns with regard to specific shortcomings of the Rwandan asylum system and Rwanda’s capacity to offer long-term solutions for those being removed under the proposed deal.” The UNHCR has even accused the government of misrepresenting its stance on the pact in the court.
In fact, Rwanda was initially kept out of consideration after being identified as one of 14 red-list countries with “substantial issues” in handling asylum seekers, and was even asked by the UK government departments if any “mitigation measures exist that would provide a respectable case against legal challenge” to a possible migration pact.
ECRE condemns the UK-Rwanda dodgy deal. Unlawful, inhumane, unworkable, expensive, based on false premises, an attempt to distract from political challenges (anyone for a party?) and so much more. Here, our first read-out on the content – 10 issues to consider: pic.twitter.com/nHWfuQ4lPH
— ECRE (@ecre) April 20, 2022
However, in a drastic turn of events, Rwanda was later identified as a “fundamentally safe and secure country with a proud track record of supporting asylum seekers” by British officials in a report published after the deal was finalised in April.
Then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab defended the agreement and stressed that the real test of its credibility would be to assess “whether, with financial support, the host country could get up to European Convention of Human Rights standards.”
In May, the Johnson administration signed a migration pact with Kigali to relocate and settle thousands of refugees who entered the UK illegally. British Home Secretary Priti Patel asserted that this “world-leading” plan would “save lives,” control illegal and dangerous migration, and tackle human trafficking networks.
Our new partnership with Rwanda shows we can no longer accept the status quo.
— Priti Patel (@pritipatel) April 14, 2022
People are dying and the global migration crisis requires us to find new ways to work in partnership.
It will deal a major blow to the evil people smugglers.
This is what it means 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/J5RAynuGu7
However, these claims have been contradicted in the documents presented in court by the lawyers of asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan, and Iraq, as well as charities and Border Force staff, led by Raza Hussain.
The Home Affairs Committee report points out that “there is no clear evidence that the policy will deter migrant crossings - numbers have significantly increased since it was announced in April,” attributing the surge to “scaremongering” by smugglers, encouraging more migrants to cross over before deportation flights begin. Diana Johnson, the chairperson of the Committee, suggests that the deal “appears to have gone unnoticed” by migrants.
A group of British lawmakers have lambasted the pact and said that it is far from a “magical single solution to dealing with irregular migration.”
The sentiment has been seconded by Clare Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais (one of the organisations that have staged a legal battle against the deal), who regards the court revelations as “shocking but not surprising.” She opines that the policy will fail to act as a deterrent, and has accused Patel of having a “complete disregard for the lives of people who have already experienced unimaginable trauma” by framing a plan that is violative of [the] human rights of refugees.
To this end, Labour party shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has denounced the government’s plan as a “total mess” and an “unworkable and unethical” gimmick that can potentially “undermine UK foreign policy and our ability to raise the issue of Rwanda’s human rights record.”
There was a wave of protests this weekend against the government's inhumane Rwanda policy including outside detention centres in Heathrow and Gatwick.
— BID (@BIDdetention) July 18, 2022
Incredible to see so many people braving the heatwave to show solidarity.https://t.co/uj9bki8C6O
The first flights to Rwanda for deporting 47 asylum seekers were scheduled for June, but were grounded at the eleventh hour by a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights citing a “real risk of irreversible harm.”
The latest developments come against the backdrop of widespread citizen protests in Cambridge, Cardiff, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield organised by Care4Calais on Saturday as part of the #StopRwanda campaign. Scores of civilians, supported by 11 trade unions, demonstrated against the government’s “heinous Rwanda detention policy.”
However, the government has repeatedly reiterated a commitment to push for the implementation of the migration partnership. In fact, the Home Office has responded to the criticism by saying that although the deal is no “silver bullet” to the global migration crisis, the government will continue to “fix the broken asylum system” and break the “business model of vile people smugglers.”
Over 14,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year and more are on the way this morning. It’s going under reported because our media is focused on the Conservative leadership contest - a contest largely triggered by a subversive media campaign. What a mess.
— Henry Bolton OBE 🇬🇧 (@_HenryBolton) July 14, 2022
This has been echoed by Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo, who argues there are several misconceptions about the country’s treatment of refugees.
According to estimates by the British Home Office, more than 14,000 migrants have entered the country illegally since the beginning of the year, with numbers expected to skyrocket to 60,000 by the end of 2022, significantly higher than the 28,500 recorded last year.
While the UK sees a new wave of domestic political turmoil following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation, all the candidates in the race to replace him have vowed to implement the Rwanda deal. Nevertheless, the migrant pact continues to face significant legal hurdles and is presently under judicial review, with a full hearing scheduled for September 5.