Tue 17 January 2023:
A group of asylum seekers has been given permission by the High Court of London to appeal the decision that the British government’s proposal to send refugees to Rwanda is legal.
In December, two High Court judges upheld the controversial approach, dismissing a complaint brought by several asylum seekers, aid groups and a border officials’ union.
The same judges said on Monday that the claimants can challenge that decision on issues including whether the plan is “systemically unfair” and whether asylum seekers would be safe in Rwanda.
LONDON COURT TO DETERMINE LEGALITY OF GOVERNMENT FLIGHTS TO RWANDA TO DEPORT MIGRANTS
A key component of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s strategy to address the unprecedented number of migrants and refugees arriving in small boats, the Home Office of Britain, said it would defend its stance.
The government claims that the scheme will prevent people smugglers, but since it was unveiled in April, it has come under fire from rights organizations.
A last-minute decision by the European Court of Human Rights, which imposed an injunction blocking any deportations until the resolution of legal proceedings in Britain, prevented the first scheduled deportation flight from taking place in June of last year.
“Our ground-breaking migration partnership will relocate anyone who comes to the UK through dangerous and illegal routes to Rwanda, where they will be supported to build a new life, a spokesperson for the Home Office said:
“This will disrupt the criminal people smuggling gangs who sell lies and put lives at risk.
VICTIMS OF TORTURE, HUMAN TRAFFICKING AMONG UK’S RWANDAN DEPORTEES: STUDY
“The court previously upheld that this policy is lawful and that it complies with the Refugee Convention, and we stand ready to defend this policy at any appeal hearings.”
In 2022, more than 45,000 people attempted to cross the English Channel to get to the UK; many of them perished while attempting to do so.
Human rights groups say it is immoral and inhumane to send people more than 6,400km (4,000 miles) to a country they don’t want to live in.
They also mention Rwanda’s record on human rights, which includes claims of torture and the murder of opponents of the regime.
A lawyer representing charity Asylum Aid, which was also granted permission to appeal against the High Court’s ruling, welcomed the decision.
Carolin Ott, from law firm Leigh Day, said in a statement: “Asylum Aid is relieved that the court has rightly recognised there are compelling reasons for its case to be heard in the Court of Appeal.”
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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