The UK authorities intend to appeal to the Supreme Court against a lower court ruling on the "unlawfulness" of deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.
"Rwanda is a safe country. The High Court agreed. The UNHCR have their own refugee scheme for Libyan refugees in Rwanda. We will now seek permission to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court," Sunak said in a statement published on Twitter.
Sunak expressed respect for the Court of Appeal's decision, but "fundamentally" disagreed with its conclusions.
The prime minister added that the Rwandan government's assurances ruled out the risk that "asylum seekers relocated under the Rwanda policy would be wrongly returned to third countries."
Illegal migration has been a pressing issue for the UK for years and only intensified after the country left the European Union in 2020. In April 2022, the UK and Rwanda signed a migration agreement, stipulating that people recognized by the UK government as illegal migrants or asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda for the processing of their documents, obtaining asylum and relocation.
In March, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman presented a bill that seeks to relocate migrants who came to the UK illegally by boat across the English Channel to a "safe third country" such as Rwanda. Asylum in the UK will only be granted in exceptional cases and within an annual quota, according to the bill. Later in the month, the UK and Rwanda signed an updated version of the migration agreement, paving the way for the implementation of Braverman's plan.
The idea has faced serious criticism from both the UK opposition and various human rights organizations, with many people arguing that forced relocation will not be effective in preventing illegal migration to the UK, and others saying the bill violates human rights.