The High Court in London gave permission on Monday to a group of asylum seekers to challenge a finding that Britain’s proposal to deport refugees to Rwanda is legal.
Judges Clive Lewis and Jonathan Swift granted permission for a legal challenge to Britain’s policy to be heard in the Court of Appeal.
The High Court concluded last month that it was legal for Britain to establish arrangements with the Rwandan government to transport asylum seekers there, but it upheld legal objections brought by eight individual asylum seekers.
The first planned deportation aircraft to Rwanda was halted last June by a last-minute judgement by the European Court of Human Rights, which placed an injunction barring any deportations until the outcome of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom.
Several asylum seekers were granted permission to appeal on various grounds, including that the High Court was wrong to find the Rwanda removal policy was not “systemically discriminatory”.
The Home Office, Britain’s home ministry, was entitled to rely on Rwanda’s promises concerning the conditions for asylum seekers sent to the country.
