Council of Europe, UN officials urge UK to scrap Rwanda migrant plan

Europe's highest rights body on Tuesday called on the UK to scrap a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after the measure cleared parliament.

"The United Kingdom government should refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the Bill's effective infringement of judicial independence," Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty said. 

O'Flaherty said the legislation "raises major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally" and warned that the bill significantly prevents UK courts from fully and independently scrutinizing "the issues brought before them.". 

In a joint statement, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, and Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, also called on the UK to reconsider its plan, warning the move would have a harmful impact on human rights and refugee protection. 

"The new legislation marks a further step away from the UK's long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention," said Grandi. Turk, who has criticized the plan before, said that the legislation "seriously hinders the rule of law in the UK and sets a perilous precedent globally."

On Monday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks as the upper house of parliament finally passed the relevant legislation, delayed for weeks by attempts to alter the plan.

He said the government had booked commercial charter planes and trained staff to take migrants to Rwanda, a policy he hopes will boost his Conservative Party's flagging fortunes before an election later this year.

The House of Lords had long refused to back the divisive legislation without additional safeguards but eventually relented after Sunak said the government would force parliament to sit as late into Monday night as necessary to get it passed.

The Rwandan government on Tuesday welcomed the controversial bill's passage in the UK parliament. "We are pleased that the Bill has been passed by the U.K. Parliament," government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said in a statement, adding that the government in Kigali was looking forward "to welcoming those relocated to Rwanda."

In April 2022, London and Kigali signed a deal to facilitate the dispatch of some migrants who arrive in the UK across the English Channel to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed.

That deal, formally called the Rwanda-UK Migration and Economic Development Partnership initiative, has long been criticized by human rights experts and groups supporting asylum seekers. 

(With input from agencies)