The British government’s “anti-immigrant” policy suffered a major setback on Thursday, June 29. The centerpiece of this policy was judged to be the “Rwanda” agreement, signed in April 2022 by the Johnson cabinet with Kigali to deport to this East African country people who crossed the English Channel to request asylum in the Kingdom. United. ” illegal “ by the British Court of Appeal.

The thick sentence can be summarized in a few words: the judges of the Court of Appeal considered that Rwanda is not a country “safe third country” for asylum seekers. On account of “deficiencies” in Rwanda’s asylum system, chief judge Lord Ian Burnett explained on Thursday, “ “There are serious reasons to believe that people sent to Rwanda could be returned to the country of origin they are fleeing, even if they have good reasons to seek asylum.”. Until these deficiencies are corrected, the judge added, returning asylum seekers to Rwanda will be illegal under the European Convention on Human Rights to which the UK is a party. However, the Court of Appeal does not challenge the legality of deportations of asylum seekers from the UK to a safe third country.

However, the agreement with Rwanda was declared legal in the first instance by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, in December 2022. But The charity Asylum Aid and ten asylum seekers appealed, and the majority of judges agreed with them. “We are delighted with it. But we are still disappointed that the Court of Appeal has not questioned [le fait d’envoyer des demandeurs d’asile dans un pays tiers] », reacted the director of Asylum Aid, Alison Pickup. “ “Our decision has nothing to do with politics.”, was in charge of clarifying to Judge Burnett: the agreement on “Rwanda” is denounced by the entire British left and only has lip service from the conservative camp, while Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury and primate of the Church Anglican, denounced a policy immoral that shames our country”.

Discourage people from coming to the country

Rishi Sunak’s government immediately announced it would appeal to the Supreme Court of England and Wales. The Prime Minister, who comes from a family of Indian origin who found refuge in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, assured “respect” the decision of the Court of Appeals but be “I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions. I firmly believe that the Rwandan government has provided the necessary guarantees to ensure that there is no real risk that asylum seekers resettled under the Rwandan policy will be unfairly returned to third countries. » Paul Kagame’s government also defended itself by ensuring that Rwanda “It is one of the safest countries in the world”, recognized by “his exemplary treatment of refugees” and that his agreement with London still stood.

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