UK Court Orders Whitehall to Disclose Info on Policy to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda

London hoped to discourage migrants, as well as gangs smuggling them across the Channel, from illegally entering the country by introducing a policy that would see some of them forwarded on to Africa.

Lord Justice Lewis has ruled that the majority of the provisions of Whitehall's policy regarding sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda must be unveiled, in a major victory for several non-profit groups seeking to abolish the practice.

The UK Foreign Ministry led by PM-hopeful Liz Truss sought to block the release of ten policy provisions citing potential damage to bilateral relations with Rwanda, as well as undermining national security. However, upon reviewing the case, Lord Justice Lewis ruled that unveiling six out of ten provisions was of greater public interest than the kickback on relations with a foreign state.

"I recognise strong public interest in not undermining international relations with a friendly state. Nonetheless that consideration is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring access to relevant information in this litigation," the judge said.

The six policy passages will be unsealed during a September 5 court hearing initiated by a group of claimants who insist that the policy endangers the lives of the asylum seekers and violates human rights. They are trying to prove that the policy is unlawful and hence requested to look into the details behind it, which are reflected in the UK government’s ten-point internal document.

The groups have cited reports of state surveillance, torture and even voluntary killings in Rwanda as signs of potential threats against UK asylums seekers forwarded on there. The claim was backed by several British press outlets, including the BBC, the Times and the Guardian, who sent their own materials to the court.

"There are state controls, security, surveillance structures from the national level down to [households]. Political opposition is not tolerated and arbitrary detention, torture and even killings are accepted methods of enforcing control too," the claimants insisted.

London insists that its policy, which involved sending some asylum applicants to Rwanda instead of allowing them to stay in the UK, is safe, and stressed that it helps keep the country secure. The policy was instigated in response to a surge in cases of aliens entering the country or dying trying to do so via the English Channel.

Whitehall blamed France and various criminal gangs for the uptick in illegal immigration and said the new policy would discourage both gangsters and illegal migrants.