UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says UK should reconsider plans to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda | human rights

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The new UN human rights commissioner has urged the British government to reconsider its plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning that similar “offshoring” schemes in the past have led to “extremely inhumane” treatment of refugees.

In his first public comment on the controversy since taking office two months ago, Volker Türk dismissed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s description of the £140m deal as “logical”, saying that as well as being a legal and ethical issue, it was also “extremely expensive”. “It is unlikely to work.

“You cannot abdicate your responsibilities to another country in the way envisaged [by the UK government]Türk told the Guardian. “It raises very serious concerns, both from an international human rights perspective and from an international refugee law perspective.”

Asked if the government should go back to the drawing board, he said: “Yes, absolutely.”

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Conservatives’ plan to send people seeking protection in the UK to the central African country was lawful, rejecting a request by asylum seekers, charities and the Border Officials Union to stop it.

The victory was partial, as the judges also said the government failed to “take account of the circumstances” of eight people it tried to deport under the scheme in June, in one case confusing facts about a Syrian Kurd and a Syrian the court deemed “not an immaterial fault”.

However, the Home Secretary quickly announced her intention to move the partnership forward “as broadly and quickly as possible”. Suella Braverman claimed she was supported by “the vast majority of British people” in wanting to see an end to the people smuggling rings facilitating the transit channel for asylum seekers.

More than 40,000 people crossed the canal in small boats in 2022, the highest number since figures began collecting in 2018. The journey is fraught with danger: four people died last week after their boat ran into difficulties off the coast of Kent.

Four people died last week after a small boat ran into difficulties in the Channels off the coast of Kent. Photo: Gareth Fuller/Penn

The Rwandan government said it currently has capacity to take in about 200 people – less than 0.5% of the total who have crossed this year, and rights groups say it is not large enough to be a deterrent.

Türk, who succeeded Michelle Bachelet as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in October, said there are “ways and means” of how governments can deal with smuggling rings and ensure those in need have protection.

But, he added, the Rwanda program is unlikely to do so.

“Of course, it sounds very exciting to send people to Rwanda – but will you [do] The trick?” he said. “What does it mean to ensure that those who need international protection accept refugees as such, and who discourages them from doing so? I very much doubt it, and history really proves it, if you look at a few things [we] I saw in the Australian context. “

Türk, an Austrian lawyer and former assistant high commissioner for the United Nations refugee agency, said he witnessed how the offshore processing centers on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, were marked by human rights abuses. The latter was closed after the country’s supreme court ruled it illegal.

“The way asylum seekers were treated on Nauru and Manus was deeply inhumane,” Türk said. The UK government rejects any comparison between the two schemes as “fundamentally wrong”, insisting that their asylum claims be processed by Rwanda in accordance with international human rights law and that they will not be detained while this process is ongoing.

In response to the High Court’s decision, the Prime Minister said he wanted to introduce “a system whereby if you come to the UK illegally, you have no right to stay and we will be able to send you home if it is safe or a safe alternative like Rwanda”.

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He added: “I think that is the logical position of the vast majority of the British people.”

Speaking from Geneva, Türk said: “Certainly, from my point of view, that’s not common sense.” He also called on the government to tone down its rhetoric and “emotional language”, having previously criticized Braverman’s “terrible” use of the word “invasion” to describe cross-channel crossings.

“It is not that there are no problems about irregular arrivals. That is obvious and it is a problem that one has to deal with… But we have to get rid of the emotions, including some emotional language. We need to approach it as an issue guided by international norms, international rights and law international refugee.

Despite the Supreme Court ruling, there will be no flight carrying asylum seekers to Kigali soon. Other calls are expected. In the summer a European Court of Human Rights blocked any deportations “until three weeks after the final domestic decision in the ongoing judicial review proceedings”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our pioneering migration partnership with Rwanda will provide support for relocated individuals to build new lives there, while disrupting the business model of people smuggling rings.

The Supreme Court found it legal on Monday, and the Home Secretary is committed to making it a success to help prevent dangerous, illegal and unnecessary travel.

“The comparison of this policy to the Australian model is fundamentally wrong and inaccurate; under our approach, people who are sent to Rwanda are not detained but transferred, and are free to leave if they wish.”

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