A UK court of appeal has ruled against the government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
A panel of three judges gave the ruling on Thursday. Two judges ruled that Rwanda was not a safe third country for asylum seekers, while one opposed them.
The suit was filed by 10 asylum seekers who arrived UK on boats, and an asylum charity.
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The judges, Sir Geoffrey Vos and Lord Justice Underhill, decided Rwanda was unsafe, but Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett found the UK policy appropriate.
In their ruling, the judges said sending asylum seekers to Rwanda would be unlawful “unless and until the deficiencies in [the government’s] asylum processes are corrected”.
They held that their position remained same as the Rwandan government’s assurances were not “sufficient to ensure that there is no real risk that asylum seekers relocated under the Rwanda policy will be wrongly returned to countries where they face persecution or other inhumane treatment”.
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