15 November 2023 , 08:52
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Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan is in tatters after a court ruled the migrant deportations are unlawful.
The Government has already handed £140million of taxpayers’ cash to the African nation. But judges unanimously declared that it would put refugees who have escaped war and persecution in danger.
Supreme Court President Lord Reed said there would be a risk of genuine asylum seekers being returned by Rwanda to the home country from where they fled. The ruling is a hammer blow for the Prime Minister who has promised to “stop the boats”. Mr Sunak had pushed ahead with the plan despite warning that the scheme to send people to Rwanda was both unlawful and unworkable.
The Tories had suggested they could withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights if the flights were grounded, but the court warned that legal protections forbidding refugees being sent back to their countries of origin also exist under other United Nations treaties
Here we look at what the project involves.
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Recently-sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman in Kigali on a PR trip earlier this year (PA)What is the plan?
In a nutshell, the UK has signed an agreement with the Rwandan Government which would see hundreds of asylum seekers flown 4,000 miles to the African nation.
Although the Government says the country is safe and people will be well-treated, it also believes it will deter people from trying to reach the UK by unauthorised means, like small boats. Those sent to Rwanda could be granted refugee status and allowed to say there. Alternatively they may try to get asylum in another "safe third country".
How much has it cost (so far)?
We don't know the full picture as yet - but what we do know is that it's been very, very expensive. So far the UK Government has handed over £140million to Rwanda.
The Mirror has requested a full breakdown of all other costs associated with the project, such as airline fees and spending on court battles, but has been rebuffed.
Has anyone been sent there yet?
Only if you count Home Secretaries. Priti Patel gleefully announced the deal in April 2022, saying it would be a groundbreaker in tackling illegal migration.
That June a first flight was cancelled at the last minute due to a legal challenge, and the project has been stalled since. In March Suella Braverman - who was sacked on Monday - travelled to Kigali with a carefully-selected press pack on a PR trip. But she came back.
So what's been happening in the courts?
There's been a long back-and-forth over the last year over whether the Rwanda scheme is actually legal.
In June the Court of Appeal ruled it wasn't, saying that the African nation isn't a safe place to send asylum seekers to. It also warned that the policy breaches parts of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Ms Braverman is among the Tories calling for the UK to withdraw from this.
The Court of Appeal decision overturned a previous ruling by the High Court, which had determined the project to be legal.
Are the public convinced it'll work?
No. Polling from Savanta found that 51% don't think the threat of deportation to Rwanda will make a difference. Just a quarter of voters believe it will bring down the number of small boat crossings.
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Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta, said: "Despite a year of hyping what feels like one of the government's flagship policies, there's no movement whatsoever in public opinion regarding the Rwanda plan, according to this repeat of polling from June 2022. However, the good news for the government is that the policy is reasonably popular, with a plurality of support from the public, and a majority of support from those that voter Conservative in 2019."
What would Labour do?
Labour has said it will scrap the Rwanda project if it comes to Government. Keir Starmer has said his party would plough the cash into dealing with people arriving in the UK in the first place.
He said last month: "I think it’s the wrong policy. It’s hugely expensive. It’s a tiny number, a tiny number of individuals who go to Rwanda. And the real problem is at source.”