European judges are examining the case of an Iraqi asylum seeker challenging the UK’s planned deportation of him to Rwanda.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has now pressed the British government to provide “observations” on the 54-year-old man’s case after accepting his legal application.
The procedural step, announced on Tuesday, comes before the judges decide whether to hear the case in court.
ECHR documents state the Iraqi complainant feels the deportation is in breach of his human rights as he would be at risk of “inhuman and degrading treatment” in Rwanda.
Referred to as N.S.K. in court files, the 54-year-old left his home country in 2022 before reaching Britain by boat.
He claimed asylum but the UK deemed his application inadmissible, before informing the man that he would be deported to Rwanda in June 2022.
His latest appeal has been made under Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Multiple Legal Challenges
The Iraqi national was one of the immigrants to challenge his deportation on the first flight to Rwanda in summer 2022.His case went through the UK High Court, Appeal Court, and Supreme Court last summer before the flight was blocked by a Strasbourg judge through a late-night interim injunction.
The asylum seeker was also part of the subsequent High Court action that unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the Rwanda policy.
However, judges ruled that Home Secretary Suella Braverman must reconsider his individual case because of flaws in the way it had been processed.
In a preliminary ruling last month, Lord Justice Underhill gave permission for some asylum seekers to widen the scope of their challenges against the previous rulings.
This includes arguments that the High Court judges were wrong in their assessment of whether the Home Office had carried out “a sufficiently ‘thorough examination’ of the adequacy of Rwanda’s asylum system.”
Asylum seekers will also be able to argue that judges fell into error when deciding if people relocated to Rwanda faced a “real risk” of being sent back to countries where they may face persecution or other ill-treatment in breach of their human rights.
Underhill rejected other individuals’ bids to broaden appeals based on other arguments, including over the consideration given to whether one man was a victim of trafficking.
The appeal judge’s decision came after asylum seekers and Asylum Aid were previously allowed to pursue appeals on a number of issues.
Flight Grounded
In April, the Court of Appeal will be asked to consider whether the two judges were wrong to find there were sufficient safeguards to prevent asylum seekers from being returned to a country where they were at risk of persecution, and whether the Rwanda scheme is “systemically unfair.”The Illegal Migration Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, and is part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to deliver on his pledge to stop small boats of illegal immigrants from crossing the English Channel.
The approach has been denounced by the U.N.’s refugee agency as an effective “asylum ban.”
In April last year, then-Home Secretary Priti Patel signed an agreement with Rwanda for it to receive migrants deemed by the UK to have arrived “illegally,” and therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules.
Several challenges were previously brought against the proposals, which were described at the time as a “world-first agreement” in a bid to deter immigrants from crossing the Channel.
The first deportation flight—due to take off on June 14, 2022—was then grounded amid a series of objections against individual removals and the policy as a whole.
Following hearings in September and October, Lord Justice Lewis and Mr. Justice Swift rejected arguments that the plans were unlawful.
However, they did rule in favour of eight asylum seekers, finding the government had acted wrongly in their individual cases.
Despite the £140 million deportation deal being embroiled in legal battles, Braverman reaffirmed her commitment to the controversial policy last month as she visited Rwanda.
The home secretary said the plan “will act as a powerful deterrent against dangerous and illegal journeys.”
Doubling down on her commitment, Braverman said: “The UK–Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership is a ground-breaking approach that will act as a powerful deterrent against dangerous and illegal journeys such as small boat crossings.
“It will also support people to rebuild their lives in a new country, and provide a boost to Rwanda’s fast-growing economy through a significant investment in jobs, skills, and opportunities.”
