The British government aims to “deter more people from coming to the UK” with its policy to send asylum seekers with pending applications to Rwanda, plans deemed lawful on Monday by a London court.
Answering questions raised by lawmakers after the ruling, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the government was determined to go further with the policy, which she described as a humane and practical alternative to continued arrivals via dangerous and illegal routes.
“We will deter more people from coming here and make such routes unviable. There has been a great deal of misinformation about Rwanda,” said Braverman, adding that she the East African nation is “a safe and dynamic country with a thriving economy.”
“It has an excellent record of supporting refugees and vulnerable migrants,” the home secretary said as she defended the policy.
Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas dismissed government claims that the policy, which sends asylum seekers to Rwanda on a one-way ticket, enjoyed public support.
“Please stop saying that this policy has support of the British people. There’s a recent poll from the YouGov that shows just 10% actually support this. The British people are better than this vile British government,” Lucas said.
Braverman said the government was working “intensively” to prepare legislation that would introduce possible instant deportation for all irregular arrivals.
“If you come here, irregularly or illegally, i.e. on a small boat, putting yourself and others at risk, you will be detained and you will be swiftly removed to a safe third country or Rwanda, for your asylum claim to be processed,” the Home Secretary said on the planned bill to be introduced next year. A decision on whether to allow an appeal to the High Court’s decision has been put off until January.
The government policy has been under fire from many human rights groups and opposition parties. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Karen Doyle, spokesperson of Here to Stay UK, a charity campaigning against Rwanda deportations, accused the government of “using racism and anti-immigrant policies to prop up failing government.”
Doyle, who has been in touch with some of the asylum seekers whose names were on the list for the first deportation flight, noted that their asylum applications had been approved by the Home Office.
Rights groups fear that the current government may also withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights to avoid further legal challenges to its policy, as domestic courts are not expected to call off the measure.
“When it comes to major government policy issues, the judges have been unwilling to act against them, like in the Brexit case,” Doyle said.