A UK charity, Asylum Aid, objecting to the scheme of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, has demanded the UK’s new administration to officially renounce the policy. This comes alongside their legal appeal, in spite of assurances from recently appointed Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, promising to abandon the proposition.
Mr. Starmer, over the weekend, pronounced the Rwandan proposition, initially instituted by the former Conservative administration in 2022, as completely null. This was his first significant policy declaration after scoring a resounding electoral triumph.
Three asylum seekers in jeopardy of deportation to Rwanda retracted their legal defiance to the policy before the high court in London on Tuesday. This happened post assurances from government legal representatives that they would not be moved to Africa. Instead, their asylum applications would be duly processed.
Yet, the legal fight by Asylum Aid against this policy presses on. Advocates for the Home Office in the UK claimed in legal scripts that there was “no likelihood of deportations to Rwanda in the foreseeable days”. However, they outlined that the freshly instated government required time for a comprehensive construction of their asylum policy.
Reflecting on this, Charlotte Kilroy, the attorney for Asylum Aid, argued in court, “Considering the Prime Minister has declared the Rwandan policy null, it’s astonishing that we need to keep this case active”. She further added, “A sensible compromise has been achieved, due to the Home Secretary needing to evaluate whether this is indeed the situation.”
In a statement, Asylum Aid expressed, “The immediate action required of the Home Secretary is to assure that there will be no deportations under any circumstance, revoke the current policy, and discard all notifications concerning intentions for Rwanda.”
A Home Office spokesperson clarified, “As previously stated, no forthcoming deportations to Rwanda have been organised. The court hearing planned for this week is now over.” according to Reuters.