Government Officials Told Priti Patel Not To Do Asylum Deal With Rwanda Court Hears

Lawyers acting for asylum seekers from countries such as Syria and Iraq, as well as charities and Border Force staff, have been sent thousands of documents detailing the internal review of the policy – which they say is illegal. Documents presented at a High Court hearing on Tuesday said Rwanda had “initially been excluded from the list of potential partner countries for [Priti Patel’s] proposed immigration policy for human rights reasons’. They show that on February 10, 2021, the UK High Commissioner to Rwanda said the country “should not be pursued as an option for planned migration policy”. Reasons cited included that he “has been accused of recruiting refugees to carry out armed operations in neighboring countries”, has a “poor human rights record regardless of the conventions he has signed” and has been criticized by the UK for extrajudicial killings. deaths in custody, enforced disappearances, torture and repression of anyone critical of the regime. Further advice against any deal with Rwanda was issued by State Department officials, including a May 20, 2021 memo that said “continuing[d] to advise No 10 against engagement’ and suggesting that it does not have a ‘functioning asylum system in compliance with Refugee Convention obligations’. One of several other recommendations not to consider a deal with Rwanda, on February 18, 2021, rated the country orange/red for human rights, asylum and political feasibility and questioned whether “there are mitigation measures that would provide a dignified case against legal challenge”. Official government guidelines, which were published after the deal was announced in April, found Rwanda to be a safe country, but the plaintiffs revealed that the Rwandan government itself had been sent a draft for review. A Home Office memo dated May 6 this year said it had “shared the latest draft of the country policy and briefing note and annexes with the government of Rwanda”, which had “highlighted a number of points and concerns about the evidence base in relation to human rights in Rwanda’. The memo, reproduced in documents presented to the Supreme Court, said the complaint was “reviewed” by Home Office officials and that “further work is being done … to reflect feedback from Rwanda on the draft we shared”. The plaintiffs’ legal team, led by Raza Hussain QC, said previous correspondence with the Home Office had suggested that Rwanda’s assessment was impartial and objective. “These claims are difficult to reconcile with a scenario where the Rwandan government was given the opportunity to comment on the final draft and propose amendments to passages dealing with its own human rights,” their written argument added. Lawyers said the Interior Ministry’s legal team had made several unexplained changes to some documents, including those covering Rwanda’s previous asylum deal with Israel, which was ruled illegal by Israel’s Supreme Court. Rwanda policy could create ‘more dangerous’ routes to UK, Home Office admits Some passages were restored after complaints, but a letter from the interior minister’s representatives claimed the government’s relationship with Rwanda was sensitive, adding: “While we work closely with them on many international priorities (free trade, climate change, development, etc.) etc.) we are also a ‘critical friend’ to Rwanda’s human rights abuses and lack of political space, as well as to the official narrative of the 1994 genocide. “An asylum processing agreement could potentially put us in an awkward position if the government threatened to suspend it if we did not comply with its expectations in these areas.” The plaintiff’s filings with the Supreme Court show several memos flying around the State Department about the deal, with many raising concerns about Rwanda’s human rights record and “concerns about violations of the political opposition or those opposed to President Paul Kagame.” . On 26 May 2021, an internal Foreign Office email reported that then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had said the test should be “whether, with financial support, the host country could meet the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights”. . In March last year, Foreign Office officials sent a memo to Mr Raab warning that if Rwanda was chosen, the government would have to “reduce the UK’s positions on Rwandan human rights and absorb any criticism that would arise.” » by parliament and charities. Documents disclosed on Tuesday showed that officials from the Ministry of Interior visited Rwanda before the memorandum of understanding was established. A March 3 memo said the country is “heavily dependent” on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and aid agencies to deliver their domestic asylum system, and that there has been “no independent verification” of Kigali’s claims about its capabilities. 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