A London court on Tuesday closed the cases of three asylum seekers who had appealed against the UK’s attempt to deport them to Rwanda, after the Labour government announced it was abandoning the previous Conservative government’s plan.
The three asylum seekers’ appeals were due to be heard by the High Court of Justice in London starting Tuesday, but the hearing, which was due to last at least four days, lasted just one hour.
James Eadie, the Home Office lawyer for the new Labour government, said the appeals by the three asylum seekers had been “fully resolved”.
The migrants’ applications “will be examined in a manner consistent with the new government’s new asylum policy,” he added. The lawyer added that the new government “does not anticipate expulsions to Rwanda.”
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the Conservative government’s plan to deport illegal immigrants was “dead and buried”.
In November last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that such a project was illegal under international law, as Rwanda could not be considered a safe country for asylum seekers.
The Conservative Party had been betting on a plan that would discourage large numbers of migrants from crossing the English Channel to the UK in small boats from the northern coast of France.
Despite the Conservatives’ strong defence of the controversial plan, which has been criticised by international human rights organisations, the Labour Party had already announced its rejection of it, before its landslide victory in last Thursday’s election.
The conservative government wanted to start expelling migrants in the first half of July, despite the controversy surrounding the policy.
Sixty-five people reached British shores on Monday via the English Channel, bringing the total number of arrivals so far this year to 13,639, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Rwanda, an African country of 13 million people, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent.
The Rwandan government said on Monday it had taken note of the new British government’s decision to abandon the “Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement,” as the plan is called.
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