Activist lawyer Femi Falana SAN has appealed to United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson to halt the patently unlawful and discriminatory plan to send asylum-seekers and refugees who flee conflict and persecution to Rwanda.
Falana also urged the UK Prime Minister to comply with the UK’s international legal obligations.
Th? request was contained in a letter dated June 13 and sent to Prime Minister Johnson at his residence 10 Downing Street, London.
Falana noted that Johnson announced on April 14 that under the UK and Rwanda’s new migration and economic development partnership, “anyone entering the UK illegally, as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1, may now be relocated to Rwanda.”
“I also note that the UK government simultaneously published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concluded with the government of Rwanda for the provision of an asylum partnership arrangement.
The MoU foresees the transfer of asylum seekers whose claims are not being considered by the United Kingdom, to Rwanda, which will process their claims and settle or remove (as appropriate) individuals after their claim is decided,” the lawyer said.
Falana expressed concern that the Home Office is offering to fly asylum-seekers and refugees back to the conflict zones they escaped from in the first instance if they do not wish to be sent to Rwanda.
He said: “According to my information, asylum-seekers and refugees are being sent to Rwanda because of their method of reaching the UK – generally crossing the Channel to enter the UK.
“The largest nationality groups affected seem to be Afghans, Iranians and Sudanese. Sudanese refugees reportedly represent more than a third of those being sent to Rwanda.
“This patently racist, unlawful and discriminatory plan is inconsistent and incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations, and commitments to refugees.
“The UK authorities cannot and should not escape their international legal obligations to asylum-seekers and refugees and push to shift such obligations to another country.”
He argued that the MoU and the plan to send asylum-seekers and refugees to Rwanda blatantly violate the UK’s legal obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; the Convention against Torture; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
He also contended that “it is patently unlawful and discriminatory for the UK government to penalise asylum-seekers and refugees who belong to a group of nationalities simply because of their alleged irregular entry into the UK”.
“The MoU and plan to send asylum-seekers and refugees to Rwanda may also violate the internationally recognised right to non-refoulement, and lead to violations of other human rights.”
Falana posited that the MoU cannot be justified under international law as both UK and Rwanda are states parties to the United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
“Therefore, sending asylum-seekers and refugees to Rwanda, a country with appalling human rights record, will amount to double jeopardy for asylum-seekers and refugees: denying them their internationally recognised human rights in the UK while also exposing them to the risks of grave human rights violations in Rwanda.
The UK is set to deport an unspecified number of migrants of various nationalities to Rwanda, in a controversial deal that was given the green light by British courts. Rwandans are watching events unfold with skepticism.
More than 30 migrants were originally ordered to be sent to Rwanda after two British courts on Monday refused to block the deportation flights.
The courts rejected last-ditch appeals filed by immigration rights advocates and labour unions.
According to British media, 23 asylum-seekers have since had their deportations put on hold due to individual appeals.
London and Kigali signed an agreement in April that would send people seeking asylum in the UK to the East African country. Authorities in Rwanda will process the asylum claims and, if successful, refugees will be allowed to stay in that country. The UK will help cover up to $157 million (€144 million) of expenses.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwandan minister for foreign affairs and international co-operation, Vincent Biruta, signed a world-first migration and economic development partnership in the East African nation’s capital city, Kigali
The agreement was signed on April 14 by British Interior Minister Priti Patel (left) and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Birutaare.
The UK is expected to pay more money as Rwanda accepts more migrants.
The deal has sparked accusations that the deal allows the two countries to engage in human trafficking. But both the UK and Rwanda argue that trafficking is precisely what the pact aims to fight.
“We’re doing this for the right reasons,” Yolande Makola, Rwanda’s government spokeswoman, said during a news conference held in the capital yesterday.