Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have both urged the British government to reconsider the plan to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda and instead adopt practical measures to manage irregular flows of refugees and migrants based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law.

In a statement, Grandi said, "the new legislation marks a further step back from the UK's long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in violation of the Refugee Convention. The protection of refugees requires that all countries - not just those bordering crisis zones - uphold their obligations. This agreement seeks to shift the responsibility for refugee protection, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying precedent globally."

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Grandi continued: "The UK has a proud history of effective and independent judicial oversight. It can still take the right steps and implement measures to address the factors driving people from their homes and share responsibility for those in need of protection with European partners and other international counterparts."

Suggestions for a different path

UNCHR's High Commissioner then explained that in his opinion, a fair, efficient, and well-governed migration and asylum system is essential, ensuring access to protection for those in need and enabling the return home for those without a legal basis to stay.

While recognizing the challenges posed by irregular movements of refugees and migrants, often in perilous circumstances, UN leaders expressed serious concern that the legislation would facilitate transfers under the asylum partnership between the UK and Rwanda, with limited consideration of their individual circumstances or potential protection risks.

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Instead, they urged the UK to pursue practical cooperation with countries along refugee and migrant routes to strengthen protection and offer real alternatives. This cooperation includes expanding safe and regular pathways to protection, they said.

Türk: 'A serious obstacle to rule of law and dangerous precedent'

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights added his voice to the criticism of Britain's latest Rwanda act. Türk said: "This new legislation, by shifting responsibility onto refugees, reducing the capacity of British courts to oversee deportation decisions, limiting access to legal remedies in the UK, and curtailing the scope of national and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, seriously obstructs the rule of law in the UK and sets a dangerous precedent globally."

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The Commissioner for Human Rights added that "for the protection of human rights and the dignity of refugees and migrants seeking protection, it is crucial that all removals from the UK are carried out after assessing their specific individual circumstances, in strict compliance with international human rights and refugee law."

Rwanda laws becoming 'progressively restrictive' thinks Türk

Türk explained that the new legislation is the third in a series of progressively restrictive British laws that have eroded access to refugee protection in the UK since 2022, including through the ban on asylum or other forms of residency permits in the UK for those arriving irregularly via a third country.

In the UN press release, from April 23, the international agency outlined that they believed, If implemented, asylum seekers, including families with children, would be sent to Rwanda to lodge their asylum claims, with no prospect of return to the UK.

Additionally, it will severely limit the ability of asylum seekers to challenge or appeal deportation decisions, as decision-makers and judges will be required to definitively consider Rwanda as a "safe" country for the protection of asylum seekers, regardless of any contrary evidence, present or future.

This situation is even more concerning considering that the legislation expressly authorizes the government to disregard any interim protection injunction by the European Court of Human Rights, concluded the UN's press statement.