Thousands of migrants ‘face being sent to Rwanda even if home nation is safe’
Thousands of migrants who arrive illegally in the UK then claim asylum will be sent to Rwanda even if their home nation is regarded as a safe destination to which they could be returned, migration experts from Oxford University have said.
The Migration Observatory at Oxford University, which is headed by a senior Government adviser on migration, said it would affect migrants coming from “safe” countries outside the EU like India, which it emerged this week has overtaken Albania for the number of Channel migrants.
The academics from the body, which is headed by a senior government adviser on migration, said it was a potential flaw in the Illegal Migration Bill, which could lead to more migrants having to be detained and housed in the UK or sent to Rwanda.
It stems from the way the Bill is framed, which means nearly all illegal migrants’ asylum claims on arrival in the UK are deemed inadmissible.
Instead, the Bill requires that they should be detained and swiftly removed to a third “safe” country such as Rwanda.
If their claim is not processed in the UK, the academics said they could not be returned to their home country because it would be a direct breach of the Refugee Convention of 1951.
“This is because if the Government does not process people’s asylum claims, it will be unable to establish whether it would be safe to return them there,” they said in an analysis posted on their website.
The Observatory said that the Bill only envisaged sending people back to countries of origin if they were from EU countries or Albania, but the vast majority – 82 per cent – of those seeking asylum were from other countries.
Of those who were unsuccessful in their asylum claims from these countries, the vast majority – between 78 per cent and 87 per cent – were returned to their home country but who would now not be subject to such a move.
“India has typically ranked in the top 15 most common countries of nationality for asylum applicants in the UK. And in the first quarter of 2023, the number of Indian citizens arriving via small boat was not trivial: around 700,” said the Observatory.
“Yet Indians typically have a low asylum success rate at initial decision: four per cent in 2022.
“India is not on the list of safe home countries. Therefore, under the Bill, Indians’ asylum claims will not be considered. If their claims are not considered, they will not be removed to India.”
