UK: Top Court Hears Govt's Appeal on Rwanda Migrant Plan

Facts

• On Monday, a five-judge bench at the UK's Supreme Court began a three-day hearing to determine whether there is a 'real risk' to sending asylum seekers back to Rwanda.¹
• Lawyers for the home secretary told the top court that the Court of Appeal had unjustly blocked the UK government's plan — stopped 16 months ago — to proceed.²
• Terming it as 'serious and pressing' to tackle 'life-threatening' crossings by channel migrants, the government's legal team argued there was a 'strong public interest' for the Rwanda policy.³
• Last June, the Court of Appeal ruled that the UK government's policy contradicted the country's Human Rights Act, stating that there was a risk legitimate asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda and face persecution.⁴
• Lawyers of migrants from Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Sudan claim that it's unlawful and inhumane to deport people to Rwanda — which allegedly has a poor human rights record.⁵
• In April 2022, the UK and Rwandan governments reached an agreement allowing the UK to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and stay in the East African country if granted asylum.⁶

Sources: ¹Independent, ²BBC News, ³The telegraph, ⁴Reuters, ⁵Associated Press and ⁶Guardian.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. The UK must act as a humanitarian-spirited country to those whose lives have been unfairly destroyed abroad rather than give in to the xenophobic rhetoric that the Conservative party continues to churn out. Corrosive language and behavior to those genuinely seeking asylum will not solve the many problems that the Tories have failed to grapple with during their time in government.
• Right narrative, as provided by Spectator (uk). While relevant legislation points towards a strong legal basis for the Home Secretary holding the right to describe what is indeed a 'safe' country, there must be an acceptance by the UK's legal system that democratically-elected politicians should have the final say on such nuanced matters. Despite all the noise the left continues to make, there is genuinely popular support for the government's attempts at border control, which must be respected.