The United Kingdom is optimistic that an ongoing court case of the UK-Rwanda migration and economic development partnership will prove its legality, Omar Daair, British High Commissioner to Rwanda has said.
Daair said this on Wednesday, December 14, while briefing both international and local media on the state of the UK-Rwanda relations.
The policy, under which some of the migrants and asylum seekers illegally entering the UK are to be transferred to Rwanda, has been on hold for months after it was challenged by a high court in the UK.
The verdict is set for Monday, next week, according to the envoy.
"The UK government is confident that this policy is legal and correct and has fought that case in court," he added, "We expect a verdict to come on Monday."
Provided that the verdict is in favor of the UK government, Daair said that the next steps would move in the direction of implementation of the agreement, allowing for the transfer of migrants to Rwanda.
"The partnership was signed earlier this year and we have worked with the government of Rwanda to put in place all the framework to allow it to be successful and to get off the ground."
"That included a transfer of a significant amount of development funding to Rwanda and that was to help those who might relocate in future but also to help build economic opportunities for host communities and people."
"I can't yet fully predict the timeline of when that might be, until we are informed of the verdict on Monday," he said.
Appeal is possible
Even if the verdict doesn't go in the government's favor, Daair hinted at a possible appeal.
However, he said, for such a case, verdicts could be multi-layered.
"If the overall partnership is deemed unlawful that would be a more complicated process, but I think what you would see is that the UK government would appeal that ruling depending on exactly what the judges have said are the issues with the process," he added.
The silver lining, he highlighted, is that both sides are still very committed and, adding that he believed both countries would achieve the initial objective.
The envoy's comments come just a day after the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, vowed to stop illegal migrants who cheat their way into the UK.
Rwanda-UK ties
Bilateral ties between both countries have particularly deepened this year owing to various factors like hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2022).
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"The event that was really well organised and handled here in Rwanda, but it was the coming together not just for both countries but also of the entire Commonwealth community to talk about how we strengthen our relationship, our trade, our shared values and the fact that we as the UK were handing over our chair to Rwanda has brought our relationship very closer."
Equally important, he said, is the trade relationship which grew by 6 percent to reach more than Rwf41 billion in 2021.
"We are also seeing an increase in investment interest in areas like the water sector, in tourism and some of our governments investment agencies are increasingly exploring the market to see what they can do here in Rwanda."
Meanwhile, the envoy also hinted to the Genocide fugitives who have found safe haven in the country, expressing regrets of what he said was an over-delayed process.
