UK Government To Learn Rwanda Migrant Policy Fate

London, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2023) The UK Supreme Court will rule Wednesday on whether the government's controversial Rwanda policy for migrants is lawful, a decision with major political ramifications for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The Conservative leader says the scheme is crucial to reduce rising immigration, which is set to be a key battleground at the next general election expected in 2024.

Five judges will announce their decision at 1000 GMT on a government appeal against a lower court judgement that the policy is unlawful.

The ruling is the latest episode in a long-running saga that began in April last year when the policy was signed under then-prime minister Boris Johnson.

A favourable decision could boost Sunak's chances of fending off a resurgent Labour party, but defeat would leave his immigration plans in tatters -- and could widen rifts in the ruling Tory party between right-wing lawmakers and moderates.

The Migration and Economic Development Partnership envisages sending to Rwanda anyone who has made what the government calls "dangerous or illegal journeys, such as by small boat or hidden lorries" to the UK.

The government insists it is essential in deterring record numbers of migrants trying to cross the Channel from northern France in rudimentary small vessels.

More than 27,000 have made the journey this year.

Sunak made stopping the small boats one of his five key priorities after succeeding Liz Truss in October last year.

His administration says immigration must be slashed to ease pressure on housing and other social services, such as health.

Opponents decry the Rwanda policy as cruel, expensive and difficult to implement. They also argue it is in breach of international law on asylum and refugees.

The first deportees were on a plane and ready to fly to Rwanda in June 2022 until a last-minute injunction from the European Court of Human Rights. Nobody has been deported under the scheme so far.

The government asked Britain's highest court to rule on the legality of the policy after the Court of Appeal overturned in June an earlier High Court ruling that the plan was broadly lawful.