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The UK government’s plan to deport people seeking asylum to Rwanda has been challenged in the high court, with claims that ministers deliberately ignored evidence that the east African country had violated human rights, including the right to live free from torture.
The legal challenge came as the number of refugees arriving by small boats across the Channel rose to record levels. Prime ministerial candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have both pledged to stick with the policy.
Raza Husain QC, appearing on behalf of asylum seekers, along with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and groups Care4Calais and Detention Action, on Monday said the policy was “unlawful under the Human Rights Act and the common law”.
“Asylum seekers removed to Rwanda face a significant risk of violation of their rights to be free from torture and inhuman treatment,” the court was told.
In written submissions, the claimants said the home secretary, Priti Patel, and the government “including the Foreign Office and No 10 were themselves aware of, and appear to have had serious concerns, over Rwanda’s present and historic human rights record”.
Husain told the court: “Rwanda is a one-party authoritarian state that does not tolerate political opposition. It is a regime that repeatedly imprisons, tortures and murders those it thinks [are] its political opponents.
“Those who protest or dissent from government directives, including refugees, are faced with police violence.
