The United Kingdom's Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 15, ruled that a migration plan by the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda would be unlawful.
The ruling came as a disappointment to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who reiterated that "the Rwanda policy is an essential part" of his plan to stop migrants arriving in the UK illegally. Kigali also challenged the Supreme Court's position that the country would not be safe for asylum seekers and refugees.
Below is a timeline of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership from its signing, in April 2022, to the latest announcements from the two governments.
April 14, 2022: Rwanda and the UK ink the migration deal after a major increase in the number of illegal migrants who were dangerously crossing to the UK through the sea.
June 15, 2022: The first flight to Rwanda is canceled minutes before take-off following a ruling by a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
December 19, 2022: The UK High Court rules that the government's Rwanda policy is lawful, but orders the cases of the first eight deportees to be reconsidered.
January 4, 2023: New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces legislation to tackle the migrant crisis as one of five key priorities for his premiership.
March 14, 2023: A UK High Court judge rules that asylum seekers can appeal against Home Office decisions over alleged errors in the consideration of whether relocation poses a risk to their human rights.
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March 18, 2023: UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman travels to Rwanda. During the two-day trip, she underlines Britain's commitment to the Rwanda-UK migration deal.
June 29, 2023: The deal is ruled unlawful by the UK Court of Appeal.
November 15, 2023: UK's Supreme Court rules that the plan is unlawful because there are "substantial grounds for believing that asylum seekers would face a real risk of ill-treatment by reason of refoulement to their country of origin if they were removed to Rwanda."
New treaty in pipeline
On the same day as the Supreme Court ruling, the two governments said they were working on a new treaty that would ensure the policy succeeds. Rwandan Government Spokesperson Yolande Makolo said: "Rwanda will now focus on working with the UK on a binding treaty to re-emphasize already existing guarantees required for the partnership to succeed."
STATEMENT ON DECISION BY UK COURT ON THE RWANDA/UK MIGRATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP Link: https://t.co/LVcGpAI34Y pic.twitter.com/iAqZ8xs8a2-- Rwanda Government Communications (@RwandaOGS) November 15, 2023
Sunak said the two countries had been working on "a new international treaty with Rwanda and we will ratify it without delay."
Following today's ruling, I'm taking the extraordinary step of introducing emergency legislation to confirm Rwanda is safe. I will not allow a foreign court, like the European Court of Human Rights, to block these flights. Here's the plan in full 1/5 pic.twitter.com/6MVqYWS65O-- Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 15, 2023
"We'll provide a guarantee in law that those who are relocated from the UK to Rwanda will be protected against removal from Rwanda," he said.
