King Charles III has given his assent to the UK government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill 2024. The bill has now officially become law after receiving Royal Assent, which signifies the final stage in the British legislative process.
The bill provides the UK government the power to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, leveraging the UK-Rwanda international treaty on asylum partnership, signed in December 2023. The act identifies Rwanda as a “safe country,” creating a simplified procedural mechanism for asylum seekers to claim protection there.
In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled against these proposals, arguing that Rwanda could potentially return asylum seekers to their home countries, breaching the international law principle of non-refoulment. Nevertheless, the court upheld the general principle of resettling illegal migrants to a safe country for their asylum claims processing.
Addressing the enactment of the legislation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that it would deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous journeys and help break the nefarious business model of criminal gangs exploiting them.
However, concerns have been raised by human rights groups and the UN Committee on Human Rights, which in March urged the UK to withdraw the act, citing potential discrimination and breach of UN conventions on refugee treatment. Likewise, provisions of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 have faced criticism.
The Home Office has announced that they expect the first flights sending asylum seekers to Rwanda to take off within 10 to 12 weeks.