The United Kingdom signed a new agreement with Rwanda on Tuesday in the hope of sending asylum seekers to the African country. This is reported by the Reuters news agency. Last month, the British Supreme Court ruled that plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda are not lawful, because it cannot be guaranteed that it is a safe country for asylum seekers.
This is a requirement according to the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the judges, asylum seekers would run the risk of being sent back by Rwanda to the country they fled. Persecution may await there.
The British government is now trying to get out of the ruling with the new treaty. According to James Cleverly, the British Home Secretary who traveled to Rwanda on Tuesday, the judges’ objections have been removed in the new plans.
Safe country
The agreement includes a promise from the Rwandan government not to return asylum seekers, even if their asylum applications are rejected. In addition, the British Parliament will have to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe country. The question remains whether the Supreme Court will approve the new plans.
With the new treaty, Minister Cleverly sees “no reason why migrants cannot take a flight to Rwanda in the coming months,” he said on Tuesday afternoon. Lawyers and human rights organizations consider this unlikely.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes the plans will limit the influx of migrants into the country. In April last year, the two countries signed the first agreement, under which the UK would send migrants to Rwanda to apply for asylum. The aim is for the treaty to deter migrants from crossing the Channel to the United Kingdom.
In exchange for the deal, Rwanda has already received at least 160 million euros, but no migrant has yet been sent to the African country.
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