What is the Rwanda Policy? Explaining the UK's plans for asylum seekers

Britain's Conservative government passed legislation on Monday allowing asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda, after a lengthy fight in the courts and parliament.

The bill seeks to override a Supreme Court ruling last year that found plans to send asylum seekers to African countries illegal. The judges ruled that Rwanda is not a safe country for refugees to resettle or have their asylum cases heard.

The Rwanda plan, which became Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's flagship policy at a time when party approval ratings were low, now appears closer to becoming a reality than ever before. But critics say it raises profound questions about the rule of law and separation of powers in Britain and could affect thousands of asylum seekers. Human rights groups have vowed to fight the plan in court.

Here's what you need to know:

What is Rwanda's policy?

The Conservative government has pledged to stop the boats as the number of asylum seekers arriving across the English Channel rises after a lull during the coronavirus pandemic. Most of those who arrive in small, unseaworthy boats apply for international protection in the UK through the asylum system, and many are later found to be refugees and are allowed to settle in the UK.

Through a series of bills and agreements, the government introduced a policy that people arriving by small boats or other irregular means would not be eligible for asylum in the UK. Instead, they will be detained and sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claims heard and, if successful, allowed to resettle in Rwanda.

The government has argued that the Rwandan policy would act as a deterrent to tens of thousands of people making the dangerous border crossing from France to the UK every year. This has been questioned by some migration experts who say people in small boats are already risking their lives to travel to Britain.

Human rights groups and legal experts have warned that the policy breaches the UK's legal obligations to refugees under international law and breaches the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

How did you get here?

In early 2021, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson began discussing plans to send asylum seekers abroad. Taking control of Britain's borders was a key promise of the 2016 Brexit campaign championed by Prime Ministers Johnson and Sunak.

In the summer of 2021, Priti Patel, then the minister overseeing immigration and asylum, introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill, which would make it a criminal offense to enter the country by irregular means, such as by boat or without a visa. The bill also gave authorities more scope to arrest and remove asylum seekers.

By April 2022, the UK had announced a deal with Rwanda to send asylum seekers to Rwanda in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in development funding, and later that month the Nationality and Borders Bill became law.

But legal challenges and a final interim decision from the European Court of Human Rights have halted the first flight, planned for 2022. In early 2023, then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman revived the plan through the Illegal Immigration Bill.

The bill, which became law last July, gave her office a duty to remove almost all asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally, without a visa or through other means, such as arriving clandestinely in small boats or trucks. (In reality, many of these asylum seekers will not arrive illegally, because genuine refugees have the right to enter the country and seek international protection.)

Asylum seekers will be sent either to their home country or to a safe third country, such as Rwanda. Regardless of the outcome of their claim, they have no right to re-enter, settle in, or obtain citizenship in the UK.

Both of these efforts were challenged in the courts, ending with a Supreme Court ruling deeming the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda illegal.

Rwanda's security bill and the treaty with the African country earlier this year seek to override court rulings by declaring Rwanda legally safe and directing judges and immigration officials to treat it as such.

How much did the UK spend on this scheme?

No asylum seekers have yet been sent to Rwanda, but Britain's independent public spending watchdog said last month that the government would pay Rwanda $370 million, or about $457 million, by the end of 2024. Additionally if your flight takes off.

Britain eventually committed to paying Rwanda an additional $20,000 in development costs for each person sent and $150,874 per person in operating costs. The UK plans to send a further 120 million troops to Rwanda after sending an initial 300 people.

Yvette Cooper, the opposition Labor minister whose portfolio includes migration, called the cost unreasonable on Tuesday and argued the money should instead be directed to strengthening border security.

What has been the response to the plan?

The policy has faced fierce opposition from the beginning, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warning in 2021 that the policy violated international law.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said on Tuesday the law sought to shift responsibility for refugee protection, undermine international cooperation and set a worrying global precedent.

Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's director of human rights, said the bill raises key questions about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally, and that the UK should refrain from deporting people under the policy and effectively breach the law. They called for a reversal. Judicial independence.

When can the first deportation flights take off?

Mr Sunak had initially promised to deport asylum seekers by the spring, but said on Monday the first flights would not depart until June or July.

He said the government had put airfields on standby, booked commercial charter flights and identified 500 trained escorts to accompany asylum seekers to Rwanda.

But legal experts say the plan is seriously flawed, and human rights groups have vowed to fight any plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Richard Atkinson, vice-president of the Law Society of England and Wales, the professional association for lawyers, said in a statement on Tuesday that the bill remains flawed and constitutionally inadequate.

On Tuesday, more than 250 British human rights groups wrote to Mr Sunak pledging to oppose the move by European and British courts.

Individuals who have been notified they will be sent to Rwanda are expected to raise legal challenges to their deportation in British courts, and some may appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which will have the flight suspension ordered again.

Nick Cumming-Bruce contributed reporting from Geneva.

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