British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is “confident” in the legality of his government’s plan to send some UK asylum seekers to Rwanda. Last week, the European Court of Human Rights urgently stopped the first deportation flight, which was about to leave, in what Boris Johnson has now called a “strange last minute mishap”.
The new British policy, for which the Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel, has spoken, provides that “anyone who enters the United Kingdom illegally” can be deported to Rwanda, and can apply for asylum in that country.
The measure has already been evaluated by British courts, including that of London, which considered that it is “important for the public interest that the Home Secretary can enforce immigration control decisions.” And here’s what Boris Johnson is alleging at this point: “Every court in this country said there was no obstacle that they could see, no court in this country found the policy illegal, which was very, very encouraging.”
“We are very confident in the legality of what we are doing and we will follow the policy,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by Reuters. Precisely this week, after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, the British Government announced that it is preparing more deportation flights.
Minister Priti Patel said at the time that the United Kingdom “is a generous and welcoming country”, but whose “ability to help those in need is seriously compromised by those who come illegally”, pointing to spending around five million pounds (six million euros) a day with illegal immigrants.
“Although this decision by the Strasbourg Court to intervene was disappointing and surprising, given the various decisions to the contrary in our national courts, we remain committed to this policy,” the minister said in Parliament, adding that “the preparations for the next flights they have already started.”
Source: Observadora
