Losing Altitude: UK's Rwanda Plan Faces Turbulence in Supreme Court
Photo courtesy: Leon Neal
On 15 November 2023, the Supreme Court made headlines with its unanimous decision that the UK Government’s Rwanda migration policy is unlawful. But what exactly is the significance of this landmark ruling? This article dives into the background of the UK’s troubled Rwanda plan, and the implications that the Supreme Court’s decision will have for UK immigration policy.
UK’s Rwanda Policy: An Explainer
Immigration in the UK has always been a subject of heated debate. Even since the 2016 Brexit decision, the UK and the EU have continued to sustain record numbers of asylum seekers, resulting in a political civil war between both anti and pro-immigration groups. In 2020, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to migrants crossing the Channel as “very bad, stupid, dangerous and criminal”. The UK’s strained immigration system is struggling - presently, more than 100,000 asylum seekers are stuck in an uncertain limbo as they await a decision from the Home Office.
As such, the UK introduced the Rwanda plan in April 2022. Under the £120 million deal, the UK planned to send attempted asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing instead. Since its proposal, the plan has been riddled with inconsistencies and corruption - the UK Home Office was found to have sent misleading letters to refugees with false claims that the UN supported the Rwanda plan, and the UK’s safety assessment on Rwanda conspicuously omitted Rwanda’s own history of human rights abuses. The plan has also, quite literally, failed to get off the ground. In June 2022, asylum seekers were boarded onto the first Rwanda-bound plane, only for the plane to be left grounded following a last-minute judicial intervention. Since then, no planes have successfully taken off.
The Supreme Court decision
Against this turbulent backdrop, the Rwanda policy might have been dealt its final and damning blow last week. In a swift and unanimous decision, the Supreme Court found the Rwanda policy to be unlawful. It held that there are substantial grounds to believe that deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment by reason of refoulement. The court also held that the plan breached international human rights law, including the ECHR and the UN Refugee Convention. This ruling arose from concerns that Rwanda lacked sufficient control mechanisms and judicial independence, owing to its own troubled history of genocide, political interference and human rights abuses.
Sunak remains defiant
Given the Supreme Court’s authoritative position as the UK’s highest court, its decision carries significant weight in substance and spirit. Coupled with widespread public criticism of the Rwanda plan, it is shocking that the Conservative Party has opted to fight back. On the same day that the ruling was announced, Rishi Sunak immediately announced his intention to sidestep the Supreme Court’s ruling. He characterized the ruling as an attempt by “a foreign court to intervene against Parliament” and affirmed his commitment to doing “whatever is necessary”. Within the Conservative Party itself, there has been internal disagreement over this response - almost 30 Tory MPs have written to Sunak urging him to respect human rights.
What’s next?
What follows next is dependent on how the Conservative Party will carry out its threat to continue with the plan. To circumvent the ruling, the UK government will likely implement a two-fold plan. Firstly, it will likely introduce a revised treaty with Rwanda to replace the old agreement. Previously, the UK’s agreement with Rwanda was based on a non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding. Hence, the UK will likely aim to implement a new legally binding treaty to alleviate concerns of Rwanda violating its agreement. Secondly, Sunak plans to introduce an emergency bill - a form of primary legislation - to declare Rwanda as safe. As primary legislation cannot be struck down in domestic courts, this plan is a clear move to block future UK-based challenges about Rwanda’s safety. Legally speaking, this plan may face significant challenges and lacks substantial legal grounding. As such, a long road lies ahead: any move to further the Rwanda plan will undoubtedly be met with widespread resistance, both politically and legally.
However, the battle for humane immigration policy is bigger than just the Rwanda plan. In July 2023, the UK passed the worrying Illegal Migration Act. Now, anyone who arrives in the UK “irregularly” will be automatically denied access to asylum and barred from claiming human rights protection. The Act has received widespread criticism as inhumane and dangerous - even the UNHCR has found that the Act breaches the UN Refugee Convention and “undermines the UK’s longstanding humanitarian traditions”. As such, the future of UK migration policy remains in a precarious state, but, at least for now, planes to Rwanda will stay grounded.