Abstract
On April 14, 2022, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced intentions to deport Rwandan asylum seekers arriving by small boats. Under this arrangement, individuals who sought protection but were later deemed unsuitable and undesirable by the UK would be re-transported to Rwanda, where Rwandan authorities would review their claims. This Policy was rejected by several asylum and refugee organizations, which argued that it was inhumane and would only imprison asylum seekers before sending them to countries where they faced torture or persecution. This study employed sociolegal analysis and combined doctrinal research with an empirical approach. It used secondary sources, such as government statements, reports, articles, and news reports. The result explains the UK and Rwanda Memorandum of Understanding on Migration, the development of the policy, and how international law view it. This study provides evidence that the UK has violated international law by implementing the partnership plan with Rwanda. The bilateral transfer arrangement is incompatible with or violates Article 31, 33 (1) of the 1951 Refugee Convention; and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Furthermore, Rwanda has failed to meet the conditions for accommodation and to ensure its safety from deportation, persecution, or other human rights abuses committed by its residents and the government.
Recommended Citation
Susanto, Fransiska Ayulistya
(2025)
"The UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership Based on International Refugee Law,"
Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law): Vol. 12:
No.
1, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v12n1.a5
Available at:
https://journal.unpad.ac.id/pjih/vol12/iss1/5
References
Books
Ambrosini, M., & Hajer, M. H. J. Irregular migration: Imiscoe short reader. Springer International Publishing: 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30838-3.
Chetail, Vincent. “Are Refugee Rights Human Rights? An Unorthodox Questioning of the Relations between Refugee Law and Human Rights Law.” In Human Rights and Immigration, edited by Ruth Rubio-Marín. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
———. “Moving Towards an Integrated Approach of Refugee Law and Human Rights Law.” In The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law, edited by M Foster and J McAdam, 216–17. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Cowell, Federick. Critically Examining the Case Against the 1998 Human Rights Act. Vol. 1. Routledge: 2017.
Moeckli, Daniel, Sangeeta Shah, and Sandesh Sivakumaran. International Human Rights Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Seeley, Samantha. Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain (Williamsburg and Chapel Hill: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and the University of North Carolina Press, 2021).
Spencer, Sarah, and Anna Triandafyllidou, eds. Migrants with Irregular Status in Europe: Evolving Conceptual and Policy Challenges. Cham: Springer International Publishing, Imprint Springer, 2020.
Sutherland, Elaine E., “Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Challenges of Vagueness and Priorities,” in Implementing Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Best Interests, Welfare and Well-Being, ed. Elaine E. Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 21–50.
Taylor, Becky. Refugees in Twentieth Century Britain: A History. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2021.
V. Moreno-Lax, “The Legality of the ‘Safe Third Country’ Notion Cpntested: Insights from the Law of Treaties,” in Migration & Refugee Protection in the 21st Century: International Legal Aspects, ed. G.S. Goodwin-Gill & P Weckel (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,2015), 665-721.
Other Documents
Afghanistan & Central Asian Association. “The Cancellation of the Rwanda Scheme: What Next? | ACAA.” ACAA, August 30, 2024. https://acaa.org.uk/the-cancellation-the-rwanda-scheme-what-next/.
Allain, J. “The Jus Cogens Nature of Non-Refoulement.” International Journal of Refugee Law 13, no. 4 (October 1, 2001): 533–58. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/13.4.533.
Amnesty International UK. “Amnesty UK Letter to Permanent Secretary on UK-Rwanda Memorandum.” Amnesty International, 2022. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/amnesty-uk-letter-permanent-secretary-uk-rwanda-memorandum-1.
———. “The Right to Asylum.” Amnesty International, January 20, 2023. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/right-asylum.
BBC. “Why Are Asylum Seekers Being Sent to Rwanda and How Many Could Go?” BBC News, June 15, 2022, sec. Explainers. https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-61782866.
Bolt, David. “An Inspection of the Home Office’s Approach to the Identification and Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults February – May 2018.” London: Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, January 2019.
Bregstein, Anna. “The Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 Explained.” Richmond Chambers, June 3, 2024. https://immigrationbarrister.co.uk/the-safety-of-rwanda-act-2024-explained/.
Collyer, Michael, and Uttara Shahani. “Offshoring Refugees: Colonial Echoes of the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.” Social Sciences 12, no. 8 (August 11, 2023): 451–51. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080451.
COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. “Serious Human Rights Concerns about UK’s Rwanda Bill.” Council of Europe, April 23, 2024. https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/serious-human-rights-concerns-about-united-kingdom-s-rwanda-bill.
Cooney, Christy. “First Refugees to Be Told This Week of Their Relocation to Rwanda.” the Guardian, May 9, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/09/first-refugees-to-be-toldd-this-week-of-their-relocation-to-rwanda.
Courea, Eleni, and Rowena Mason. “Labour Government Would Halt Rwanda Deportations from Day One, Starmer Says.” The Guardian, May 10, 2024, sec. UK news. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/10/labour-government-would-stop-rwanda-deportation-flights-starmer-says.
Dhiana Puspitawati, and Fransiska Ayulistya Susanto. “Protection of People at Sea under International Law: Lesson Learnt from Pushback Action to Boat People in Indonesia and Malaysia”. Brawijaya Law Journal 10, No. 2 (2023): 147, https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2023.010.02.02.
Donald, Alice, and Joelle Grogan. “What Are the Rwanda Treaty and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill?” UK in a changing Europe, April 17, 2024. https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/what-are-the-rwanda-treaty-and-the-safety-of-rwanda-asylum-and-immigration-bill/.
Eardly, Nick. “MPs Reject Lords Amendments to Rwanda Bill.” Edited by James Gregory and Chris Mason. BBC, April 15, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68815191.
Electronic Immigrant Network. “UNHCR: UK’s Migration Partnership with Rwanda Is Unlawful and Incompatible with the Refugee Convention.” www.ein.org.uk, 2022. https://www.ein.org.uk/news/unhcr-uks-migration-partnership-rwanda-unlawful-and-incompatible-refugee-convention#analysis.
Francis, Sam, and Paul Seddon. “Keir Starmer Vows to Scrap Rwanda Asylum Scheme ‘Straight Away.’” Www.bbc.com, May 9, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68984778.
Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute. “Dead Ends: No Path to Protection for Asylum Seekers under the Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement | Refworld.” Refworld. Americas - Miscellaneous, 2020. https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/americas/2020/en/123260.
Gietel-Basten, Stuart. “Why Brexit? The Toxic Mix of Immigration and Austerity.” Population and Development Review 42, no. 4 (December 2016): 673–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12007.
Gil-Bazo, María-Teresa. “The Safe Third Country Concept in International Agreements on Refugee Protection Assessing State Practice.” Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 33, no. 1 (March 2015): 42–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/016934411503300104.
Goddard, James. “UK-Rwanda Asylum Agreement: Why Is It a Memorandum of Understanding and Not a Treaty?” House of Lords Library, January 26, 2023. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-rwanda-asylum-agreement-why-is-it-a-memorandum-of-understanding-and-not-a-treaty/.
Griffiths, Melanie, and Colin Yeo. “The UK’s Hostile Environment: Deputising Immigration Control.” Critical Social Policy 41, no. 4 (January 11, 2021): 521–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018320980653.
Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, Application no. 27765/09 (Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights February 23, 2012).
Hruschka, Constantin. “From the Dublin Convention to the Dublin Regulation: The Impact on EU Third Country Cases in the UK Jurisdiction.” Jahrbuch Für Recht Und Ethik / Annual Review of Law and Ethics 13 (2005): 473–94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43593715.
Human Rights Watch. “Rwanda: A Year On, No Justice for Refugee Killings.” Human Rights Watch, February 23, 2019. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/23/rwanda-year-no-justice-refugee-killings.
Hunt, M. “The Safe Country of Origin Concept in European Asylum Law: Past, Present and Future.” International Journal of Refugee Law 26, no. 4 (December 1, 2014): 500–535. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeu052.
Hymas, Charles. “Rishi Sunak Confident of Overturning Rwanda Migrant Plan Verdict.” The Telegraph, June 29, 2023. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/06/29/rwanda-migrant-deportation-plan-blocked-court-appeal/.
Johnson, Boris. “PM Speech on Action to Tackle Illegal Migration: 14 April 2022.” GOV.UK, April 14, 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-action-to-tackle-illegal-migration-14-april-2022.
Lawless, Jill. “UK Government Vows to Challenge Court Ruling That Its Plan to Send Migrants to Rwanda Is Unlawful.” AP News, June 29, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/migration-uk-rwanda-deportation-court-challenge-f90ea56aca48df25592d537778f028cc.
Lewis, Jacqueline. “Buying Your Way out of the Convention: Examining Three Decades of Safe Third Country Agreements in Practice.” Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 35 (2021). https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/in-print/volume-35-number-3-spring-2021/buying-your-way-out-of-the-convention-examining-three-decades-of-safe-third-country-agreements-in-practice/.
Lynch, Timothy E. “Refugees, Refoulement, and Freedom of Movement: Asylum Seekers’ Right to Admission and Territorial Asylum.” Georgetown Immigration Law Review 36, no. 1 (December 1, 2021).
Maclellan, Kylie, and Andrew Macaskill. “UK Government’s Contested Illegal Immigration Plan to Become Law.” Reuters, July 18, 2023, sec. UK. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-governments-contested-immigration-plan-become-law-2023-07-18/.
McGee, Luke. “UK Passes Controversial Bill to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda after Two Years of Challenges.” CNN, April 22, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/22/uk/uk-passes-rwanda-bill-intl/index.html.
McKinney, CJ, Melanie Gower, and Patrick Butchard. “UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.” House of Commons Library, October 4, 2024. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9568/.
Morton, Becky. “Suella Braverman Says Rwanda Is Safe for Migrants Despite Evidence of 2018 Killings.” BBC, April 2, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65153807.
Neal, David. “An Inspection of Asylum Casework (2020 – May 2021).” Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, November 2021.
Perez, Cristina Saenz., “The Securitization of Asylum: A Review of UK Asylum Laws Post-Brexit.” International Journal of Refugee Law, December 10, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eead030.
Refugee Council. “Commentary of the Agreement with Rwanda for Outsourcing the UK’s Asylum System.” UK: British Refugee Council, April 2022.
Robinson, Gavin. “Notes on the ECHR and the DisUK ‘After’ Brexit – in Memoriam Scott Crosby.” New Journal of European Criminal Law 12, no. 1 (December 7, 2020): 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2032284420976938.
Ruhs, Martin, and Bridget Anderson. “Semi-Compliance and Illegality in Migrant Labour Markets: An Analysis of Migrants, Employers and the State in the UK.” Population, Space and Place 16, no. 3 (2009): 195–211. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.588.
Son. “Times: UK, Armenia Hold Talks on Sending Illegal Migrants to Armenia.” https://azvision.az, April 15, 2024. https://az.azvision.az/mobile/news.php?id=178385〈=en.
Specia, Megan. “A Timeline of Britain’s Troubled Plan to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda.” The New York Times, April 17, 2024, sec. World. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/world/europe/uk-bill-asylum-rwanda.html.
Taylor, Diane. “Over 24,000 UK Asylum Seekers Could Be Sent to Rwanda Despite Court Ruling.” The Guardian, June 30, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/30/over-24000-uk-asylum-seekers-could-be-sent-to-rwanda-despite-court-ruling.
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA). “‘Safe Countries of Origin’: A Safe Concept?” the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), September 2015.
UK Home Office. “Inadmissibility: Safe Third Country Cases (Accessible).” GOV.UK, August 15, 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inadmissibility-third-country-cases/inadmissibility-safe-third-country-cases-accessible.
———. “Irregular Migration to the UK, Year Ending June 2024.” GOV.UK. GOV.UK, August 22, 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/irregular-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-june-2024/irregular-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-june-2024.
———. “Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda: Equality Impact Assessment (Accessible).” GOV.UK, July 4, 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-and-economic-development-partnership-with-rwanda/migration-and-economic-development-partnership-with-rwanda-equality-impact-assessment-accessible.
———. “Nationality and Borders Bill: Removal to a Safe Third Country Factsheet.” GOV.UK, October 13, 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-and-borders-bill-removal-to-a-safe-third-country-factsheet/nationality-and-borders-bill-removal-to-a-safe-third-country-factsheet.
———. “General Legal Considerations: Search-And-Rescue Operations Involving Refugees and Migrants at Sea | Refworld.” Refworld, 2023. https://www.refworld.org/policy/legalguidance/unhcr/2017/en/119597.
———. “Global Consultations on International Protection/Third Track: Asylum Processes (Fair and Efficient Asylum Procedures).” Refworld, 2023. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3b36f2fca.html.
———. “Guidance Note on Bilateral And/or Multilateral Transfer Arrangements of Asylum-Seekers | Refworld.” Refworld, 2023. https://www.refworld.org/policy/legalguidance/unhcr/2013/en/16943.
———. “Guidance on Responding to Irregular Onward Movement of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers | Refworld.” Refworld, 2023. https://www.refworld.org/docid/5d8a255d4.html.
———. “UNHCR Analysis of the Legality and Appropriateness of the Transfer of Asylum Seekers under the UK-Rwanda Arrangement.” UNHCR UK, June 8, 2022. https://www.unhcr.org/uk/media/unhcr-analysis-legality-and-appropriateness-transfer-asylum-seekers-under-uk-rwanda.
UNHCR. “Asylum in the UK.” UNHCR, February 17, 2023. https://www.unhcr.org/uk/asylum-uk.
United Nations. “UN Expert Urges UK to Halt Transfer of Asylum Seekers to Rwanda.” UN News. United Nations, June 17, 2022. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/06/1120722.
Walker, Peter. “UK Considers Sending Asylum Seekers Abroad to Be Processed.” the Guardian, March 18, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/18/asylum-seekers-could-be-sent-abroad-by-uk-to-be-processed.
Walsh, Peter William. “Q&A: The UK’s Policy to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda.” Migration Observatory, January 10, 2024. https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/commentaries/qa-the-uks-policy-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda/.
Webber, Frances. “On the Creation of the UK’s ‘Hostile Environment.’” Race & Class 60, no. 4 (January 18, 2019): 76–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396819825788.
Legal Documents
“1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,” July 28, 1951.
‘Article 3: Freedom from Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment | EHRC’. Accessed 22 February 2024. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act/article-3-freedom-torture-and-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment.
Department of International Protection (DIP), Summary Conclusions on the Concept of "Effective Protection" in the Context of Secondary Movements of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers (Lisbon Expert Roundtable, 9-10 December 2002), -, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), February 2003, https://www.refworld.org/reference/confdoc/unhcr/2003/en/28901 [accessed 22 February 2024]
Equality And Human Rights Commission. “Article 3: Freedom from Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment | Equality and Human Rights Commission.” Equalityhumanrights.com, June 3, 2021. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-3-freedom-torture-and-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment.
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. “European Convention on Human Rights - Article 3.” European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, October 25, 2018. https://fra.europa.eu/en/law-reference/european-convention-human-rights-article-3-0.
———. “ExCom Conclusion No. 8 (XXVIII) (Determination of Refugee Status).” UNHCR. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 1998. https://www.unhcr.org/publications/determination-refugee-status.
———. “ExCom Conclusion on International Protection No. 85 (XLIX).” UNHCR. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 1998. https://www.unhcr.org/publications/conclusion-international-protection-1.
“Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees,” January 31, 1967.
“Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024,” 2024.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v12n1.a5