London is trying to get its partnership with Kigali back on track aimed at deporting asylum seekers who arrived in the United Kingdom to Rwanda in “ small boats » by the Channel so that their asylum request can be assessed in this country in the African Great Lakes. At the beginning of November, this crucial feature of the “anti-migrant” policy of Rishi Sunak’s conservative government, which has never yet been implemented due to legal challenges, was declared illegal by the British Supreme Court.
Tuesday, December 5, the Minister of the Interior James Cleverly therefore made the trip to Kigali to sign with the head of Rwandan diplomacy, Vincent Biruta, a treaty broadly resuming the terms of the agreement signed in spring 2022, but intending to respond to the objections of the Supreme Court. In its decision of November 15, taken unanimously, the highest British court explained that the partnership between London and Kigali presented a risk ” real “ of refoulement of asylum seekers to their country of origin by the Rwandan authorities, even if their request for protection was justified.
Principle of “non-refoulement”
A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), cited by the five judges of the court, “produces evidence” deficiencies in the Rwandan asylum system and the risks of refoulement it presents for asylum seekers who flee their country of origin for security reasons. But the principle of “non-refoulement” is enshrined in British law, as well as in international treaties to which the United Kingdom is a signatory: the United Nations Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The judges also mentioned a 2021 British government report expressing alarm over extrajudicial killings in Rwanda, the lack of independence of the judiciary and cases of torture in the country.
The new treaty, which has yet to be ratified by the British and Rwandan parliaments, commits Kigali not to turn back any asylum seekers sent by the United Kingdom. After examining their asylum application file, people will be granted refugee status in Rwanda or will obtain a right of long-term residence in this country. The only state where they could possibly be returned is the United Kingdom – in the event that they challenge their deportation to Rwanda on appeal and win their case.
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