Refugees are once again hot topic of discussion in the UK. This is due to cancellation of the Rwanda scheme deportation flight following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This puts the Rwanda agreement between UK and Rwanda in limbo at least till July.
What is the Rwanda Scheme?
The UK had signed an agreement with Rwanda to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel on a one-way ticket to “process” their asylum there. The Government claims doing this would deter others from using the people smugglers who arrange this trips and disrupt that business. Priti Patel confirmed in February that the Government did not have proper safe route for asylum seekers to come to the UK.
Still the Government announced the Rwanda scheme in April, an Executive decision that did not go through Parliament. It is not law and therefore open to challenge in court.
That is what led to the last minute cancellation on Tuesday 14th June. One of the people on the flight has a Judicial Review case on the Rwanda scheme to be heart in court in July. But the government decided to put him on the one-way flight anyway. The High Court had found that he could be returned to the UK if his challenge was successful to overturn the Rwanda scheme. But the ECHR said there was no legally enforceable way to ensure he could come back to the UK.
What was the ECHR ruling?
The EHCR has the final say in all human rights cases. So its ruling that there is a genuine concern about the scheme that has not been properly resolved in the UK is important. The main concern in this case was how the refugee could return if his case was successful was not clear. That decision meant that remaining 7 men were able to successfully appeal their cases and their removal orders were stopped. The men were able to get off the Boeing 767 plane, chartered at estimated cost of £500,000. It then returned to its base in Spain from the military airport in Wiltshire.
The UK seems very unwilling to take in refugees. This is not surprising considering the main reason for Brexit was nationalism and a desire to stop immigrants coming to the country. Looking at the situation world wide, many countries that host refugees are not first world or rich countries. Most refugees it turns out go to low and middle-income countries close to where they are fleeing from.
Countries Hosting Highest Number of Refugees
Data from the UN Refugee agency shows that Turkey hosts the highest number of refugees, 3.8 million as of 2021. These are mostly from Syria, but it is known that around 145,000 have recently fled there from Ukraine. In Europe, Germany and Poland have taken in 2m and 1.2m respectively. See the table below for the top 20 refugee hosting countries. The UK’s figure is there for comparison.
The UK figure of 174,500 refugees is nowhere near the top of the table, and shows that there is still more that the country can do to help refugees. Many who make the perilous journey to the UK do so mainly because they speak English or have relatives who already live here. Many also think the UK is a compassionate country, but the Rwanda may change that if it continues.
The Rwanda scheme is not dead, not yet anyway. The Judicial review case hearing is in July.
There’s more to read on this here and in this explainer here.