UK PM Sunak Dealt Blow as Court Rules Rwanda Deportation Plan Unlawful

LONDON (KI) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government would appeal to the UK’s top court after its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was deemed unlawful, a major blow to his pledge to stop asylum seekers arriving in small boats.

Under an initial 140 million pound ($177 million) deal struck last year, Britain planned to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrive on its shores a distance of more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to the East African country.
The government argues the plan would smash the business model of human traffickers but critics say the policy is inhumane and will not work. On Thursday the Court of Appeal concluded by a majority of two to one that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe third country.
“While I respect the court I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions,” Sunak said in a statement, adding the government would seek to overturn the decision in the UK Supreme Court.
“The policy of this government is very simple, it is this country – and your government – who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs,” he added. “And I will do whatever is necessary to make that happen.”
The ruling comes as a huge blow for Sunak as he grapples with high inflation, rising interest rates and declining public support amid growing pressure from his party and the public to tackle rising numbers of asylum seekers costing 3 billion pounds a year to accommodate.
Court of appeal judges ruled that it is unlawful to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed, in a judgment that delivers a potential hammer blow to the UK government policy.
The ruling follows a four-day hearing in April against a high court decision last December that it was lawful to send some asylum seekers, including people arriving on small boats, to Rwanda to have their claims processed rather than dealing with their applications for sanctuary in the UK.
The illegal migration bill, now passing through parliament, states that all asylum seekers arriving via “irregular means” could face being forcibly removed to Rwanda.
However, Labour claimed that the government’s policy on so-called small boats crossing the Channel was now “completely unravelling”. The Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the Rwanda scheme was “unworkable, unethical and extortionate”. Cooper will face the home secretary, Suella Braverman, in the Commons on Thursday when the latter delivers a statement on the ruling.
Lord Burnett, who heard the appeal with Sir Geoffrey Vos and Lord Justice Underhill, stated the court had ruled by a majority that the policy of removing asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful, though he disagreed with the other two judges.

Those who supported the appeal against the ruling included the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR, lawyers, charities and a group of asylum seekers.