UK’s Rwanda policy challenged in court by migrants

Bloomberg

The UK government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has come under a legal attack by a group of refugees who condemned the country as “authoritarian,” in the latest bid to topple one of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most controversial policies.
The asylum seekers kicked off their battle Monday at London’s High Court, arguing that the policy is unlawful and doesn’t align with human-rights conventions. The hearing is set to last for five days with a ruling to come at a later date.
The legislation, which involves plans to fly asylum seekers arriving in Britain some 4,000 miles (6,437.4 kilometers) to the African nation to be processed, has spurred a long-running legal fight. Liz Truss, who will replace Johnson, has publicly backed the policy.
Rwanda is a “one-party authoritarian state with extreme levels of surveillance,” where “freedom of speech is absent” and the refugees could face “police violence” and “legal repression,” Raza Husain, a lawyer representing some of the claimants, said at the hearing.
Lawyers for the claimants, that also includes charities and a trade union representing civil servants, are challenging the legality of the government’s plans and asked the court to quash the Home Office’s assessment that Rwanda is a “safe third country.”
The lawyers mapped out alleged instances of abuses in the country outlining risks to dissenters and instances of extra judicial killings, in documents prepared for the hearing. They said UK government officials had found serious concerns in the country but these were not communicated to decision-makers.
The UK Supreme Court had previously refused to block the first deportation flight to Rwanda in June after lower courts had ruled the flight could go ahead. However, it was later halted by the European Court of Human Rights after a last minute intervention.
The government’s lawyers, led by David Pannick, said the decisions being challenged are “not unlawful” and claimed there was “no risk of harm to any of the individual claimants in Rwanda,” according to court documents.
“We will vigorously defend the Migration and Economic Development Partnership in the courts,” Priti Patel, the home secretary, said.
A large group of protesters gathered outside the court to demonstrate against the proposed legislation, with a much smaller counter-protest there to show support with the government. The two crowds were being kept separate by the police.