The Conservative government’s hugely divisive proposal to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda is scheduled to be heard by the UK’s highest court on Monday.
The British government has pledged to halt migrant boats from crossing the English Channel and has made the fight against illegal immigration a primary priority.
The government argues that sending migrants to Rwanda, a nation with which London has a deal, is a critical step towards reaching this goal, but the idea is still being obstructed by the courts.
An inaugural flight was cancelled in the middle of 2022 as a result of a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
At the end of June, the Court of Appeal in London ruled that the project was “illegal” and that Rwanda could not be considered a “safe third country”.
There was “a real risk that people sent to Rwanda would be returned to their country of origin where they were subject to persecution and other inhuman treatment”, the court said.
The administration, which affirms that Rwanda is “a safe country,” has appealed to the Supreme Court and shows no signs of letting up. The three-day hearing will take place in front of five judges.
The judgement, which is anticipated in a few weeks, will be anxiously anticipated by Rishi Sunak’s administration.
With national elections scheduled for January 2025, the Conservatives are trailing the Labour opposition in the polls by a wide margin.
- Extremely Costly
The government’s position against illegal immigration keeps getting tougher. London approved a rule in July that prohibits immigrants who entered the UK illegally from requesting asylum, regardless of the reasons they fled their home country.
The UN criticized the law as being against international law and voiced fear that “other countries, including in Europe,” would be persuaded to adopt it.
Suella Braverman, the highly conservative British Home Secretary, claimed in September that the 1951 Geneva Convention, which defines refugee status, was “not adapted to modern times” and so should be scrapped. She also consistently criticizes the ECHR.
On Tuesday, at the Conservative party conference, she warned of the migratory “hurricane” “that is coming“, accusing the Labour opposition of wanting to “open the borders”.
If the administration that will be in power next year does not act “decisively,” she warned that “millions” more migrants will arrive on British shores, creating a “uncontrolled and unmanageable” influx.
Over 25,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel since January. Following a record year in 2022 with more than 45,000 crossings over the course of a calendar year, the administration boasts that it has managed to bring about a drop.
But by the end of June, there were a record-high 175,457 persons waiting for the British government to make a judgement on their application, 43% more than at the same time last year.
In a joint statement released on Friday, Rishi Sunak and Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party in Italy, urged European nations to act quickly to address the “moral crisis” that illegal immigration symbolizes.
They said that the situation is a “European crisis” because it is up to the member nations of the continent to decide who enters the continent, not smugglers and traffickers.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour opposition, declared on Sunday that if he were to become prime minister, he would scrap plans to deport immigrants to Rwanda.
He told the BBC, “It’s the wrong policy, and it’s very expensive.” In order to “dismantle the criminal gangs involved in the despicable trade” of smuggling migrants, he pledged to cooperate with other nations.
