Rights Group files a case against British immigration policy

Human rights group Asylum Aid said on Friday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken legal action against the British government’s policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda in the coming weeks.

Parliament last month passed legislation to pave the way for Britain to send asylum seekers who come illegally to Rwanda. According to Sunak, this will deter migrants from making the dangerous crossing to Britain in small boats.

The new law, which says the British Parliament has declared Rwanda a safe country, aims to overturn a Supreme Court ruling last year that declared the program illegal.

But a document released by the government this week saying social workers must be safe in Rwanda contradicts the text of the new law, which allows asylum seekers to appeal in banned situations.

“We have taken these legal steps to ensure that the Ministry of Home Affairs (the main government department responsible for immigration) properly considers each individual case against removal to Rwanda, on the basis that they are returned to the place where they fled from Rwanda.” said Alison Pickup, executive director of Asylum Aid.

Sunak, who has made the program one of his key policies, expects the first flights to start within 10 to 12 weeks. He says the plan will destroy the business model of smugglers who ferry tens of thousands of refugees across the English Channel in small boats.