The UN called on Britain to reconsider plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday, April 23, after the measure cleared parliament, warning it threatened the rule of law and set "a perilous precedent globally."
The heads of the United Nations agencies for refugees and for human rights called on Britain to instead "take practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law."
The UK government's controversial Rwanda scheme has been beset by legal challenges since 2022 but was passed by parliament late on Monday after a marathon tussle between the upper and lower chambers.
The government has been under mounting pressure to cut record numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Channel from northern France in small boats, particularly following a promise of a tougher approach to immigration after the UK left the European Union. Its plan would compel judges to regard Rwanda as a safe third country.
It would also give decision-makers on asylum applications the power to disregard sections of international and domestic human rights law to get around a UK Supreme Court ruling that sending migrants on a one-way ticket to Kigali was illegal.
Rwanda said it was "pleased" by the UK parliament's passage of the controversial bill, the government's spokesperson said. "We are pleased that the Bill has been passed by the UK Parliament," Yolande Makolo said in a statement, adding that the government in Kigali was looking forward "to welcoming those relocated to Rwanda."