Rwanda Supreme Court decision: Judge rules Braverman’s deportation plan unlawful

Rishi Sunak said the Supreme Court’s ruling was disappointing but insisted the government has planned “for all eventualities”.

Vowing that ministers will still “stop the boats”, the prime minister highlighted the judges’ confirmation that deporting illegal migrants to safe third countries is lawful.

The statement raises the prospect of the government striking deals with new countries aside from Rwanda, or strengthening its agreement with Rwanda to secure judges’ approval.

Mr Sunak said: “This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats.

“Illegal migration destroys lives and costs British taxpayers millions of pounds a year. We need to end it and we will do whatever it takes to do so.

“Because when people know that if they come here illegally, they won’t get to stay then they will stop coming altogether, and we will stop the boats.”

The Tory MP for Dover and Deal has said the Supreme Court ruling means the Rwanda policy is “effectively at an end”.
Natalie Elphicke, a major campaigner on channel crossings, said: “No planes will be leaving and we now need to move forward.”

She said the decision will “embolden the people smugglers and put more lives at risk”.
And Ms Elphicke called for a new cross-channel agreement “to stop the boats leaving and return those that do to the safety of the French coast”.

“That should be David Cameron’s top foreign policy priority,” Ms Elphicke said.

The Supreme Court’s judgement should serve as a “wake-up call” to the government who should now focus on clearing the asylum backlog and creating more safe routes, the International Rescue Committee has said .

Laura Kyrke-Smith, Executive Director of International Rescue Committee UK, said: “We already knew the Rwanda plan was needlessly cruel and expensive, and now the Supreme Court has ruled it unlawful too.

“This landmark judgment must serve as a wake-up call to the Government to abandon its pursuit of ineffective deterrence measures, and deliver a pragmatic, humane, and lawful asylum system instead.

“They must now urgently focus on clearing the asylum backlog, strengthening the asylum system, and scaling up safe routes.”

This unanimous judgement is a huge blow to Rishi Sunak’s pledge to ‘stop the boats’.

Justices found there was a real risk that genuine asylum seekers would be returned to the home country from which they fled – by Rwanda.

In their judgement they also warn that Rwanda has a 100 per cent rejection rate for asylum seekers from conflict zones including Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.

And they said that British police have had to warn Rwandan nationals living in Britain of credible plans to kill them “on the part of (the Rwandan) state”.

In their unanimous judgement, the Supreme Court made clear that they accepted the weight of the evidence provided by the refugee agency UNHCR.

They criticised the divisional courts for failing “to give proper consideration to the UNHCR’s evidence” which was crucial to proving that the Rwandan asylum system was not fit to process claims.

What weight to put on the UNHCR evidence has been an issue of contention in the courts, with one of the judges in the Court of Appeal ruling that the government’s assessment trumped concerns expressed by the refugee agency.

The Supreme Court has instead agreed with the UNHCR in their assessment that Rwanda is not a safe country for asylum seekers.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled the government’s Rwanda plan is unlawful in a blow to Rishi Sunak after home secretary Suella Braverman’s sacking.

Judges ruled on Wednesday 15 November that flights will not be able to go ahead, leaving the prime minister’s key pledge to cut immigration to the UK in tatters.

The unanimous ruling agreed with a Court of Appeal decision in June that found Mr Sunak’s £140m deal was unlawful because of deficiencies in the Rwandan asylum system.

The plan is a core part of the prime minister’s pledge to stop small boat crossings.

International human rights charity ActionAid said Mr Sunak’ “cruel” and “unworkable” Rwanda deportation plan received “the ultimate judgment it deserves.”

Halima Begum, CEO of ActionAid UK, added: “Since its very inception, legal experts and campaigners have been absolutely clear that this inhumane policy is incompatible with the UK’s human rights obligations.

“The Supreme Court ruling, which follows the Court of Appeal judgment earlier this year, sees British values of compassion and dignity and the countless refugees with valid asylum claims, vindicated.“

The Liberal Democrats have slammed the amount of time and money wasted on the government’s Rwanda asylum plan.

Home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “It was clear from the get-go that the Conservatives’ Rwanda scheme was destined to fail. Not only is it immoral, unworkable and incredibly costly for taxpayers – but the Supreme Court has confirmed that it’s unlawful too.

“So much time and money has already been wasted. It’s time for James Cleverly to get serious and get on with fixing the broken asylum system.

“Tackling the sky-high asylum backlog and creating safe and legal routes for sanctuary will make far more progress towards that than this pet project policy ever could.”

Civil servants union the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) welcomed the ruling, but warned its campaign against the government’s “anti-refugee agenda” is “far from over”.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “It is not refugees that have driven down wages and starved public services of the resources they need – it is the fault of successive Tory governments that have overseen a sustained attack on living standards.

“The only way to protect human life and prevent people from drowning in the Channel is to give them safe passage, which we call on the government to adopt.”

Refugee charity Care4Calais has described the Supreme Court ruling as a “victory for humanity”.

Chief executive Steve Smith said: “This grubby, cash-for-people deal was always cruel and immoral but, most importantly, it is unlawful.

“Today’s judgement should bring this shameful mark on the UK’s history to a close. Never again should our Government seek to shirk our country’s responsibility to offer sanctuary to those caught up in horrors around the world.”