Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said she is “committed” to making the plan to send migrants to Rwanda work after the High Court ruled that the policy is lawful.
Several challenges were brought against the proposals announced by then-home secretary Priti Patel in April, which she described as a “world-first agreement” with the east African nation in a bid to deter migrants from crossing the Channel.
The first deportation flight – due to take off on June 14 – was then grounded amid a series of objections against individual removals and the policy as a whole.
However, at the High Court in London on Monday, senior judges rejected arguments that the plans to provide one-way tickets to the east African nation were unlawful.
Lord Justice Lewis, sitting with Mr Justice Swift, dismissed the challenges against the policy as a whole, but ruled in favour of eight asylum seekers, finding the Government had acted wrongly in their individual cases.
In a summary of the ruling read out in court, Lord Justice Lewis said: “The court has concluded that it is lawful for the Government to make arrangements for relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be determined in Rwanda rather than in the United Kingdom.”
He added: “The relocation of asylum seekers to Rwanda is consistent with the Refugee Convention and with the statutory and other legal obligations on the Government, including the obligations imposed by the Human Rights Act 1998.”
However, he said that the Home Secretary “has not properly considered” the eight individuals’ cases, which meant the decisions to send them to Rwanda would be quashed and sent back to be reconsidered.
Following the ruling, Ms Braverman said that she has “always maintained that this policy is lawful and today the court has upheld this”.
She said: “Our ground-breaking migration partnership with Rwanda will provide individuals relocated with support to build new lives there, while disrupting the business model of people-smuggling gangs putting lives at risk through dangerous and illegal small boat crossings.”
“I am committed to making this partnership work – my focus remains on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible and we stand ready to defend against any further legal challenge,” the Home Secretary added.
Ms Braverman is due to make a statement in the House of Commons later on Monday.
It is likely that Monday’s decision will be appealed.
Downing Street said the Government wanted the Rwanda policy to be implemented as soon as possible but said it was impossible to put a timetable on that while the threat of further legal action remained.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman was unable to guarantee whether any flights carrying migrants would depart in 2023 but said the Government stood ready to defend any further legal challenges.
“We want it to be done as soon as possible. I don’t think, while there is possibility of further legal action, we can put a specific timeframe on it.
“But as I say, no court has ruled this policy illegal, in fact, quite the opposite, so we will look to push ahead with this as soon as possible,” he said.
Lord Justice Lewis said a further hearing would take place in mid-January to handle the consequences of the judgment, including costs and applications to go to the Court of Appeal.
Speaking at an event during this year’s Conservative Party conference in October, Ms Braverman said the legal battles in this case could go to the UK Supreme Court or European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and that “unfortunately you have got to let that play out”.
At a five-day hearing in September, lawyers for several asylum seekers – along with the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action – argued the plans are unlawful and that Rwanda “tortures and murders those it considers to be its opponents”.
UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency – intervened in the case, telling the court that Rwanda “lacks irreducible minimum components of an accessible, reliable, fair and efficient asylum system” and that the policy would lead to a serious risk of breaches of the Refugee Convention.
At a further hearing in October, lawyers for the charity Asylum Aid also challenged the policy, arguing that the procedure is “seriously unfair” and also unlawful, with asylum seekers put at risk of being removed without access to legal advice.
The Home Office defended the claims, with lawyers arguing the memorandum of understanding agreed between the UK and Rwanda provides assurances that ensure everyone sent there will have a “safe and effective” refugee status determination procedure.
People deported to Rwanda will be provided with “adequate accommodation”, food, free medical assistance, education, language and professional development training and “integration programmes”, judges were told, as part of plans that have cost at least £120 million.
Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said: “We welcome this decision and stand ready to offer asylum seekers and migrants safety and the opportunity to build a new life in Rwanda.
“This is a positive step in our quest to contribute innovative, long-term solutions to the global migration crisis.”
Detention Action, Care4Calais and the PCS union all said they were disappointed with the ruling and were considering whether to appeal against the decision.
Deputy director of Detention Action James Wilson said the policy was “brutal and harmful” and the charity will “fight on” but it was a “huge relief” the court ruled in favour of eight asylum seekers, adding that the findings in their cases “highlights itself problems with the policy”.
Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “We remain steadfast in our opposition to the Rwanda policy and in our determination to ensure that no refugee is forcibly deported.”
Paul O’Connor, from the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), told reporters the Government’s plan “remains morally reprehensible and utterly inhumane” despite being found lawful and an appeal may be “seriously” considered to block deportations.
Leigh Day solicitor Carolin Ott, who represents Asylum Aid, said the charity “remains seriously concerned that the curtailed process that has been adopted to forcibly remove asylum seekers from the UK means they will be denied effective access to legal advice and the court”.
