Rwanda migration policy breaches international law, says UN refugee agency

The UNHCR said it ‘strongly condemns’ the plan to send migrants who arrive in Britain unlawfully to Rwanda
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA)
PA Wire
Josh Salisbury15 April 2022

The UK’s proposal to send migrants who arrive in Britain unlawfully to Rwanda is “unacceptable” and a breach of international law, the UN’s refugee agency said.

The Government announced this week it plans to provide failed asylum seekers, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, with a one-way ticket to Rwanda, where they will have the right to apply to live in the African country.

Gillian Triggs, assistant secretary-general at the UNHCR, said the agency “strongly condemns outsourcing the primary responsibility to consider the refugee status” under the proposed scheme.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, she said the policy was a “troubling development”.

Questioned on a similar Australian tactic to cut migration numbers, Ms Triggs said: “My point is, just as the Australian policy is an egregious breach of international law and refugee law and human rights law, so too is this proposal by the United Kingdom Government.

“It is very unusual, very few states have tried this, and the purpose is primarily deterrent – and it can be effective, I don’t think we’re denying that.

“But what we’re saying at the UN refugee agency is that there are much more legally effective ways of achieving the same outcome.”

She said attempting to “shift responsibility” for asylum seekers arriving in Britain was “really unacceptable”.

Tom Pursglove, minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, said on Friday that the policy was “in line” with the UK’s legal obligations.

However, he accepted that it would be “difficult” to implement the plan and that the Government braced for legal challenges.

He told Times Radio: “We are absolutely confident that our policies are in line with [European Convention on Human Rights] and entirely compliant, which by extension would mean that those legal challenges would be without merit.”

He also suggested during broadcast interviews that other countries in Europe were considering emulating the policy, saying there was a “moral imperative” to crush the business model of human traffickers.

“The point I would make is that what is cruel and inhumane is allowing evil criminal gangs to take advantage of people, to take their money, to put them in small boats, often with force, including women and children, to put them in the Channel with all the risks that that presents to human life,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

The minister also argued that in the “longer term” the scheme would save Britain money, with almost £5 million per day currently spent on accommodating those arriving in the country.

However, former Tory international development secretary Andrew Mitchell was among those questioning that, saying calculations had been made that suggested it would be cheaper to put those arriving in Britain up at The Ritz for a year.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwandan minister for foreign affairs and international co-operation, Vincent Biruta, sign the partnership agreement (Flora Thompson/PA)
PA Wire

Ms Patel agreed a £120 million economic deal while in Kigali on Thursday, and money for each removal is expected to follow, with reports suggesting each migrant sent to Rwanda is expected to set British taxpayers back between £20,000 and £30,000.

The Times said this would cover accommodation both before and after the journey, as well as the cost of a seat on the flight itself.

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