According to the Court of Appeal in London, Rwanda is not considered a safe third country, and therefore the British government’s plan is “illegal”.
The East African country, 6,000km from the UK, agreed to house refugees in special reception centers while their applications were processed, but a London court ruled that “Rwanda cannot be considered a safe third country”.
“Given the shortcomings of the asylum system there, there are good reasons to assume that there is a real risk of the persons concerned being sent back to their own country, where they have been subjected to persecution or other inhumane treatment, even though these persons have been Rwanda is not a safe third country.
The ruling is a major blow to Rishi Sunak’s conservative government, which has promised to reduce the number of legal and illegal refugees coming to the UK and planned to send tens of thousands of those who reach its shores back to Rwanda. The radical proposal sparked great controversy. The government announced that it would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
