July 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Rwandan government accessed and modified the UK government’s supposedly “objective, impartial and independent” security report before it was released, and UK officials raised concerns about the deportation deal with Rwanda, according to unpublished documents. of the Ministry of the Interior of the United Kingdom, the British network BBC reported on Tuesday.
Lawyers for the Rwanda policy challengers in the High Court have said claims that the UK Home Office’s National Policy Information Team (CPIT) documents were independent “are difficult to reconcile with a scenario in which the Rwandan government had the opportunity to comment on the final draft, and to suggest amendments to its own human rights record”.
The Home Office pushed through its policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda despite repeated concerns from UK officials, documents presented at a High Court hearing show.
In this sense, opposition to this asylum policy was raised by officials from the UK Home Office and Foreign Office, with warnings that, if the agreement were signed, the UK “would have to be prepared to limit the UK positions on Rwanda’s human rights record, and to absorb the resulting criticism from the UK Parliament and NGOs”.
Likewise, it has been known that last year, the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Rwanda sent a memorandum to the British Ministry of the Interior advising against any asylum agreement with the African country.
The High Commissioner criticized his human rights record and “heavy hand” on security, warning that a deal could “cause reputational problems and affect our ability, led by ministers, to raise difficult issues with the regime”.
For his part, the chief negotiator of the PCS union, Paul O’Connor, stressed that “the revelations from Tuesday’s hearing are extraordinary. They paint a picture of the Home Office desperate to get this policy approved, even despite the “Serious reservations raised by senior department officials. Documents submitted to the Court indicate that the Minister of the Interior is well aware of the human rights violations in Rwanda.”
Thus, he has emphasized that “the United Kingdom Government has to abandon this policy if it wants to preserve a single shred of credibility that it takes its legal obligations seriously.”
In this regard, the founder of Care4Calais, Clare Moseley has said: “the Rwanda policy raised serious concerns internally. The Home Secretary has utter disregard for the lives of people who have already experienced unimaginable trauma.”
The Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel, presented in April the “pioneering” project to deport immigrants who have arrived illegally in British territory to Rwanda, where their asylum application could be processed.
The first deportation flight was scheduled for June, but a judicial appeal prevented it from being carried out. The NGOs Care4Calais and Action Detention, promoters of the appeal, announced that the hearing will not be held until September.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in office, but all the candidates to succeed him have declared their intention to respect the program of deportations to Rwanda.
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