On 14 April 2022, the UK Government announced a new Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) with the Government of Rwanda, later re-named as the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership. The two governments subsequently signed the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty on 5 December 2023, and the UK Government published the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on 6 December 2023. The Safety of Rwanda Act was passed into law by Parliament on 23 April 2024.
On 15 November 2023, the UK’s Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful because Rwanda was not a safe country to remove asylum seekers to. In response to the judgment of the Supreme Court, the government published a new treaty with Rwanda, which provides for additional safeguards and introduced a new draft bill, which declares that Rwanda is a safe country. Government policy states that removals to Rwanda aim “to deter people from making dangerous journeys to the UK to claim asylum, which are facilitated by criminal smugglers, when they have already travelled through safe third countries”. The Rwanda plan aims to address the primary issue of people crossing the English Channel in small boats.
According to the UK-Rwanda treaty, the agreement will last until 13 April 2027, with the possibility of extension.
The government’s guidance states (p. 12) that asylum applicants may be eligible for removal to Rwanda if three criteria are met: (1) the government determines that they were previously present in or had a connection to another country in which they could have claimed asylum; (2) their “journey to the UK can be described as having been dangerous”; and (3) if they travelled on or after 1 January 2022. It states that a “dangerous journey is one able or likely to cause harm or injury. For example, this would include those that travel via small boat or clandestinely in lorries.” If people meet these criteria, then they could be relocated. However, Rwandan nationals and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children would not be relocated.
The arrangement proposes an asylum model that undermines global solidarity and the established international refugee protection system. It is not compatible with international refugee law.
UNHCR believes that the UK-Rwanda arrangement will shift responsibility for making asylum decisions and protecting refugees. Externalizing asylum obligations poses serious risks for the safety of refugees. The arrangement proposes an asylum model that undermines global solidarity and the established international refugee protection system. It is not compatible with international refugee law.
Attribution: https://www.unhcr.org/uk/what-we-do/uk-asylum-policy-and-illegal-migration-act/uk-rwanda-asylum-partnership
https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/commentaries/qa-the-uks-policy-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda/
