ANP Productions | Source: ANP
Yesterday at 11:23
Strasbourg
The Council of Europe’s human rights officer, which monitors the rule of law in Europe, has “serious concerns” about British plans to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. The British government should not implement the Rwanda law approved on Monday, says Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty.
The controversial law is intended to prevent asylum seekers from making the dangerous crossing from the mainland to the United Kingdom in smuggling boats. But critics have been warning for years that deportation to a country like Rwanda would be at odds with human rights. The European Court of Human Rights, the court of the Council of Europe, has previously stopped deportations because asylum seekers first had to be able to seek redress from the British courts.
“The UK government must refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the law’s intrusion on the independent judiciary,” O’Flaherty said. The Human Rights Court, whose rulings are binding on member states such as the United Kingdom, has not yet ruled on the law.
From the Council
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said several times that his country would leave the Council of Europe if necessary if the human rights court wanted to stop the Rwanda plans.
Two major United Nations organizations also criticized the law. Human rights chief Volker Türk and High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi have called on the British government to “reconsider” the law. They believe that the UK must take responsibility for the refugees and their care.
