The recent asylum and immigration legislation, commonly known as the Safety of Rwanda bill, has sparked significant concern among UN officials. Tabled before Parliament alongside the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty, this legislation comes as a response to the UK Supreme Court’s ruling last year, which found that transferring asylum seekers to Rwanda would breach both international and UK law.
The Supreme Court’s decision highlighted weaknesses in Rwanda’s system for determining individual asylum claims. However, according to UN officials, the new bill and treaty fail to address the protection gaps identified by the Supreme Court. Once enacted, these measures will restrict the UK courts from properly scrutinizing removal decisions, leaving asylum seekers with limited room to appeal even if they face significant risks.
UN rights chief, Mr. Türk, has criticized the bill, stating that it infringes on the rule of law. He argues that by shifting responsibility for refugees and limiting the UK courts’ ability to scrutinize removal decisions, the legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the UK and sets a perilous precedent globally. Türk emphasizes the importance of assessing individual circumstances in strict compliance with international human rights and refugee law.
A fair, efficient, and well-governed migration and asylum system is crucial for ensuring access to protection for those in need and enabling the return home of those with no lawful basis to remain. Despite acknowledging the challenges presented by the irregular movement of refugees and migrants, often in dangerous circumstances, UN leaders express grave concern that the legislation would facilitate transfers under the UK-Rwanda asylum partnership without adequate consideration of individual circumstances or protection risks.
Instead, the UN calls on the UK to pursue practical cooperation with countries along the routes that refugees and migrants take, to strengthen protection and offer real alternatives. This includes expanding safe and regular pathways to protection.
The new legislation marks the third in a series of progressively restrictive laws that have eroded access to refugee protection in the UK since 2022. It includes a ban on access to asylum or other forms of permission to stay in the UK for those arriving irregularly via a third country.
If implemented, the new bill would pave the way for asylum seekers, including families with children, to be summarily sent to Rwanda to present their asylum claims, with no prospect of return to the UK. Moreover, it would drastically limit the ability for asylum seekers to challenge or appeal removal decisions, requiring decision-makers and judges to conclusively treat Rwanda as a “safe” country in terms of protecting asylum seekers, regardless of any evidence to the contrary, now or in the future.
This situation is even more concerning as the legislation expressly authorizes the UK Government to disregard any protective interim remedies from the European Court of Human Rights, further undermining the protection of asylum seekers’ rights.