The government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda still breaks international law, the United Nations has declared.
An assessment by the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said a new partnership agreed last month remains “incompatible with international refugee law”.
The findings were published as MPs prepare to vote on the government’s latest bill aiming to finally get deportation flights to the east African country off the ground.
The Supreme Court last year ruled that the policy was illegal, promoting the government to strike a new partnership with the Rwandan government.
Signing the deal last month, home secretary James Cleverly said: ”“Rwanda is a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees.”
But in their report, the UNHCR said: “The arrangement, as now articulated in the UK-Rwanda Partnership Treaty and accompanying legislative scheme, does not meet the required standards relating to the legality and appropriateness of the transfer of asylum seekers and is not compatible with international refugee law.”
The prime minister’s spokesman this morning rejected the findings.
He said: “The prime minister will not be deterred from a course of action that is backed by the British public.
“It’s important that we have control of our borders, it’s right that the British people and not criminal gangs decided who comes to this country.
“And we are acting in a way that we believe is both legal and responsible.”
Sunak is facing a major Tory rebellion over his Safety of Rwanda Bill, which his right-wing MPs do not believe is tough enough to guarantee that deportation flights will take off.