Rwanda kicks against UK court ruling on migrant deportation plan
The Rwandan government said it “disagrees” with the UK Supreme Court’s pronouncement that the East African country is not considered safe to shelter thousands of asylum seekers from the European powerhouse.
On Wednesday, judges at the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s plan to send some migrants to Rwanda is unlawful.
It added that asylum-seekers would be “at real risk of ill-treatment” while expressing fears that they could be sent back to countries they fled from.
Commenting on the ruling, Alain Mukuralinda, the deputy Rwandan government spokesperson, said: “Rwanda disagrees with the judge’s ruling that asylum-seekers would be at risk of being sent back to their home countries once in Rwanda.”
“Rwanda respects national, international laws it assented to and binding agreements,” Mukuralinda added.
In April 2022, Britain and Rwanda agreed to a contentious migration agreement under which some migrants arriving in the UK across the English Channel would be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be assessed.
The UK offered Rwanda an upfront investment of £120 million to facilitate the implementation of the five-year agreement.
Mukuralinda, however, explained that there is no provision for a refund, arguing that the money has been used to carry out a number of infrastructure projects.
