Thousands of migrants face being sent to Rwanda even if home country is safe

Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA

Thousands of migrants who arrive illegally in the UK and then seek asylum will be sent to Rwanda, even if their home country is considered a safe place to which they can be returned, Oxford University migration experts said.

The Oxford University Migration Observatory, which is headed by a senior government adviser on migration, said this would affect migrants. arriving from «safe» countries outside the EU, such as India, which, as it turned out this week, overtook Albania in the number of migrants from the English Channel.

Scholars from the organization, which is led by a senior government adviser on migration, said it was a potential flaw in the irregular migration bill that could result in more migrants being detained and placed in the UK or sent to Rwanda.

This is due to the way the bill is worded, which means that almost all asylum claims by illegal migrants upon arrival in the UK are considered inadmissible.

Instead, the bill requires that they be detained and quickly taken to a third «safe» country such as Rwanda.

If their application is not considered in the UK, scientists have said that they cannot be returned to their homeland, as this would be a direct violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

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«This is because if the will not consider people's asylum applications, it will not be able to determine whether it is safe to return them there,” the analysis posted on their website says.

The Observatory said the bill would only send people back to their countries of origin if they were from an EU country or Albania, but the vast majority — 82 percent — of the asylum seekers were from other countries.

The vast majority of of those who failed to obtain asylum from these countries — between 78 and 87 percent — were returned to their home countries, but they are no longer eligible for such relocation.

“India is generally ranked among the top 15 countries of citizenship for asylum seekers in the UK. And in the first quarter of 2023, the number of Indian citizens arriving on small boats was significant: about 700 people, notes the Observatory. initial decision: four percent in 2022.

“India is not on the list of safe living countries. Therefore, under the bill, Indian asylum applications will not be considered. If their demands are not addressed, they will not be taken to India.”

'Our priority is to stop this illegal trade'

The Home Office said that under the bill, if someone entered The UK has illegally and not filed an asylum or human rights claim, they still face deportation to their home country or to a safe third country.

A Home Office spokesman said: “No one should risk their lives crossing La The Channel or using dangerous and illegal routes to reach the UK.

«Our priority is to stop this illegal trade and our Small Boat Operational Command is working together with our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the smugglers.

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«The government has gone one step further by passing a law that ensures that people entering the UK illegally are detained and taken promptly to their country of origin or a safe third country.»