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A court bid has been formally launched today to stop the government’s controversial plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Care4Calais and Detention Action have issued judicial review proceedings in the High Court, challenging what they describe as an “unlawful policy” by Home Secretary Priti Patel to remove asylum seekers to the east African nation.
The first flight from the UK containing migrants is scheduled to leave next Tuesday, but lawyers for more than 90 migrants have already submitted legal challenges asking for them to be able to stay in the UK.
Home Office officials are believed to be anticipating that the remaining 38 or so notified to be on the 14 June flight will follow suit this week.
James Wilson, deputy director of Detention Action, said: “In her desire to punish people for seeking asylum by forcing them onto a plane to Rwanda, Priti Patel has overstepped her authority.
“By rushing through what we say is an unlawful policy, she is turning a blind eye to the many clear dangers and human rights violations that it would inflict on people seeking asylum.
“It’s vital that new government policies respect and uphold the laws that we all, as a society, have agreed to follow. That’s why we’re seeking an injunction to keep this plane to Rwanda from leaving the runway.”
The plan has been dismissed by critics as an effort to placate MPs on the right of the Tory party, amid Boris Johnson’s leadership struggles.
Some commentators have suggested that legal challenges to the plan were anticipated by senior government figures who are keen to feed into the so-called culture war, by blaming “lefty lawyers” for any delays to the scheme.
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