The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, deeming that the African nation was “not a safe country”.
Three judges agreed by a majority of two to one to overturn the immigration plan. Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett, said: “The High Court’s decision that Rwanda is a safe third country is reversed. Unless and until the deficiencies in its asylum processes are corrected, removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda will be unlawful.”
A new Express.co.uk poll has found that 88 percent of readers think that the Court of Appeal was wrong to judge the Rwanda migrant plan as “unlawful”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he “fundamentally” disagreed with the decision and confirmed that the Government would appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman added that it was a “disappointing” result but told MPs she respected the judgement.
In a poll that ran from 12.30pm on Thursday, June 29, to 1pm on Friday, June 30, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Was the Court of Appeal right to judge Rwanda migrant plan ‘unlawful’?”
Overall, 7,554 votes were received with the overwhelming majority of readers, 88 percent (6,664 people) answering “no” against the ruling. Whereas 11 percent (850 people) said “yes” and one percent (40 people) said they did not know.
Hundreds of comments were left below the accompanying article as readers took part in a lively debate on the decision.
Many readers argued against the ruling, with username ranza1 commenting: “The court was totally wrong.”
Likewise, username Evie Roberts said: “They were completely wrong.”
Another, username ValBrooker, agreed, writing: “The judge was out of order.”
Senior Tory MP Simon Clarke said that the UK may be forced to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as a result of the decision.
He explained: “This is a deeply disappointing ruling in the face of the clear will of Parliament. We have to be able to tackle the awful people smuggling across the Channel. If the ECHR continues to forestall this, we have to revisit the question of our membership.”
Other readers were more accepting of the result. Username jmc01 said: “Of course the court was right, this plan is illegal and immoral.”
Username sifcu2 remarked: “The whole plan is just ridiculous, inefficient and impractical. Human rights laws are there for a reason.”
And username bakewelltart concluded: “Thankfully the rule of law, and common sense, triumphed today.”
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the scheme as “unworkable, unethical and extortionately expensive.” She also accused Ms Braverman of “wasting everybody’s time”.
