Resource

At a hearing in the High Court this morning, the Home Secretary confirmed that no flights to Rwanda are currently scheduled or are intended to be scheduled. Surprisingly, despite what the Prime Minister said at the weekend, her lawyers were not yet able to confirm that the Rwanda policy is “dead and buried”. Consequently, it has not yet been withdrawn. As a result, Asylum Aid’s legal challenge to that policy remains live, while the new Home Secretary undertakes a review. The Home Secretary should now urgently confirm that there will be no flights ever, withdraw the policy and all Rwanda notices of intent. She should also start the process of repealing the Safety of Rwanda Act, which is an affront to the rule of law.

It will come as a huge relief to the thousands of people threatened with removal to Rwanda that no flights are currently scheduled. However, many vulnerable people have been in limbo, for far too long, living in constant fear of being sent to Rwanda. They must now have their claims urgently considered and resolved in a fair asylum process.

We are delighted that our client, SY, as well as the claimants in the linked claims, SM and YXY, will have their asylum claims considered substantively in the UK. SY is a victim of trafficking who suffered extreme cruelty on her journey to the UK. She claimed asylum in the UK in May 2022 and has been living in limbo since. She was detained at the end of April 2024 at a routine Home Office reporting appointment, without any warning and held at an immigration detention centre for over 3 weeks. We took on her case in early May 2024, and she was released following a bail hearing.

Since 2022, when the previous government first announced its plan to outsource its asylum responsibilities to Rwanda, we at Asylum Aid have fought tirelessly to ensure that this idea does not become a reality and people like SY are not sent to a country with which they had no prior connection.

In 2024, when the Safety of Rwanda Act was enacted, declaring Rwanda to be ‘safe’ despite the opposite finding by the Supreme Court in 2023, we once again went to court to ensure that those on the list to be sent to Rwanda are able to effectively challenge their removal. In just 10 days, we forced the Home Office to amend its guidance on how it would implement the Safety of Rwanda Act and we continued to fight the case in the High Court. As we watched in horror how the previous government acted in haste and detained people unlawfully, we did all that we could to ensure that no flights took off. It is therefore a huge relief that the flight will not be going to Rwanda on 24 July or – we hope – ever.

The Home Secretary should go further and urgently review the whole policy of inadmissibility. Those who, like our client SY, reach the UK after a long and arduous journey deserve to have their protection claims considered here in a fair and effective process, and not to be shipped off to a third country because of some perceived misdemeanour on their way here. What is needed is investment in a fair and effective asylum system, and the establishment of safe routes to protection.

Asylum Aid is represented by Leigh Day and our counsel are Charlotte Kilroy KC, Rachel Jones and Flora Robertson of Blackstone Chambers and Michelle Knorr of Doughty Street Chambers.

Alison Pickup, Executive Director of Asylum Aid, said:

“As we welcome the Labour government’s decision to stop the flights, we call on them to now scrap the Rwanda scheme entirely by processing all asylum claims and abandon all plans for 'offshore' processing. The government must restore the right to seek asylum in the UK in line with international law and ensure people can have their cases processed here in a fair and timely way.”

Carolin Ott, Solicitor at Leigh Day who represents Asylum Aid along with Tessa Gregory and Stephanie Hill said:

“Our client, Asylum Aid, is relieved that the Home Secretary has confirmed that no Rwanda flights are scheduled but frustrated that its claim had to remain live because she has failed to confirm that the policy will be withdrawn. Our client believes the Home Secretary should withdraw the policy as soon as possible and focus her efforts on fair processing of asylum claims.”

Press contact: kennith.rosario@helenbamber.org or media@asylumaid.org.uk

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Asylum Aid is a leading provider of high-quality legal representation to people with complex cases who are seeking asylum in the UK. For over 30 years, Asylum Aid has worked with survivors of trafficking and torture, stateless people, unaccompanied children, and other vulnerable people seeking asylum to help them gain legal protection in the UK. Since 2020, Asylum Aid is part of the Helen Bamber Foundation Group.