Rwanda

UK: Appeal Allowed in Rwanda Asylum Case

Published JAN 17 2023

Story

Image credit: AFP/Getty Images [via The Guardian]

The Facts

British judges on Monday allowed the Court of Appeals to consider challenges to the UK government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda. A challenge to the policy will be allowed on grounds of whether it's "systemically unfair" and whether the migrants would be safe in Rwanda.
PBS NewsHour
Though two judges ruled the policy legal last month, they identified flaws in the government's decision-making process regarding its plan to send the first eight migrants to Rwanda.
guardian
Now that the same two justices have ruled to allow the appeal, the claimants, including individual asylum-seekers and the charity Asylum Aid, will be able to contest a memorandum on the safety of Rwanda signed by former Home Sec. Priti Patel.
Independent
The policy was first rejected by the European Court of Human Rights last June before the High Court allowed it. With over 42K migrants arriving in the UK last year through the English Channel, the justices ruled the government must consider "each person’s particular circumstances."
Al Jazeera
Though the government has yet to fly a single migrant to the African country, it has already paid Rwanda £120M ($146.5M) as part of the deal, with ministers planning to fine truck drivers £10K ($12.2K) per person brought into the country.
The Irish Sun
Though Asylum Aid was allowed to join the individual migrants in the appeal, other claimants, including the Public and Commercial Services Union and the charity Care4Calais were denied legal standing to join the lawsuit.
guardian

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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The Spin

Left narrative

The Rwanda plan isn't only an ineffective policy that violates the UN Refugee Convention, but it's also a disgrace to Britain and its role on the global stage. The UK can't dodge its responsibilities by offshoring and outsourcing its asylum system — especially not to Rwanda, which has a known track record of human rights violations. A solution can only be reached when root causes are tackled and a fair, humane asylum system is created.

guardian

Right narrative

Compassionate Britons are currently being lied to by political actors who believe in unfettered immigration at any cost. They're being fed a false narrative that the majority of these migrants are fleeing war-torn nations, which is simply not true; a large portion are young men seeking economic opportunities. The British people deserve to know how and for whom millions of tax dollars are being spent.