Indian-origin judge refuses plea against UK asylum plan

London, June 13

The UK Government’s policy to fly illegal migrants to Rwanda got another legal nod as the Court of Appeal in London on Monday refused to allow an appeal against a High Court decision to let the first flight take off.

Indian-origin judge Lord Justice Rabinder Singh, sitting with Lady Justice Simler and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, said they could not interfere with a High Court judge’s “clear and detailed” judgment from last week, as they refused permission for the appeal to proceed.

Human rights campaigners and charities argued that the new migration policy, tabled by Indian-origin Cabinet minister Priti Patel, was inhumane and would put migrants at risk. But Patel’s Home Office ministry has argued that the removal plan is in the public interest and must not be stopped.

“We consider that the judge produced a detailed and careful judgment, which is all the more impressive in view of the time constraints under which he had to give it,” Lord Singh said, referring to Friday’s judgment by High Court Judge Jonathan Swift.

“He weighed all factors and reached a conclusion, which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him. This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion,” said Singh.

Justice Swift had ruled that there was a “material public interest” in the Home Secretary being able to carry out her policies.

The first deportation under the contentious deal is expected on Tuesday, with around 11 scheduled on the flight, but the final figure is likely to be lower. Downing Street has said it remains the government’s plan for the first flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda to go ahead as planned. “We certainly intend for there to be a flight tomorrow,” British PM Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said. — Agencies