Thursday 22 December 2022

On Monday 19 December 2022, the High Court of Justice ruled in favour of the Government’s asylum seeker relocation plan to Rwanda in the case of AAA and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3230 (Admin).

Following the signature of the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) in April 2022, the Rwanda plan has prompted months of hotly contested debate. The aim of the MEDP is to enable the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to process their asylum applications there. Individuals who are relocated to Rwanda would not normally be allowed to return to the UK, as the UK Government’s legal responsibilities under the Refugee Convention end once relocated asylum seekers arrive to Rwanda.

The Government has indicated that it views implementation of the as a top priority in its policy agenda, with Rishi Sunak issuing the following stark warning in his asylum statement on 13 December 2022:

‘…let the House be in no doubt that when legal proceedings conclude on our Migration and Economic Development Partnership … we will restart the first flights to Rwanda.’

Former Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) Priti Patel initiated the policy to remove the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda. One by one, through legal and administrative proceedings, the Government was left with no choice but to remove all but a few individuals from the flight. In the final moments before departure on 14 June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued an interim measure preventing removal of these individuals under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court. Since then, lawyers and activists have advocated for overturning the policy based on international human rights and refugee law frameworks whilst also noting that the SSHD must consider the individual circumstances of each claimant before relocating them to Rwanda.

The High Court has now found that the Rwanda plan is consistent with international and domestic legal requirements. However, it also found that the individual decisions issued by the SSHD to the claimants were inadequate and mistakes were made. Those decisions will likely be re-issued by the SSHD. This ruling may not mark the end of legal proceedings on the Rwanda plan. The claimants are likely to appeal to the Court of Appeal and the case may eventually go all the way up to the UK Supreme Court.. In the meantime, the UK Government cannot recommence removals to Rwanda due to the interim measure set by the ECtHR until at least three weeks after a final domestic ruling. Additionally, the High Court noted that additional individuals identified for relocation to Rwanda may take the Government to court to prevent removal. The legal and administrative burden on the Government would be therefore significant before removal is permitted.

Despite these challenges, following the High Court decision, the PM’s official spokesman said that Mr Sunak welcomed the ruling and added ‘We want to go as quickly as possible’.

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To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.