Migrants from Rwanda

The High Court of Justice has ruled that the UK government's programme to expel migrants arriving illegally in the country to Rwanda while their asylum applications are being processed is lawful. The court said in a ruling made public on Monday.

"The court concluded that the government could lawfully send asylum seekers to Rwanda and have their applications processed in Rwanda rather than in the United Kingdom," it said.

"The court concluded that it was lawful for the government to make arrangements for asylum seekers to move to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be determined in Rwanda and not in the United Kingdom," said Clive Lewis, one of the two judges who handed down the decision.

However, Rwandan opposition lawmaker Frank Habineza said it was wrong to send migrants to Rwanda, a densely populated country with limited resources.

At the same time, the High Court of Justice has instructed the head of the UK Home Office, Suella Braverman, to review decisions to expel eight immigrants from the country. "The Home Office chief must determine whether there are any special circumstances in each case that would allow an individual to have an asylum claim considered in the UK and whether there are other reasons not to send the individual to Rwanda," it said.

The text stresses that the British authorities had previously "failed to consider properly the circumstances of eight individual applicants". "For this reason, decisions on these cases will be taken separately, they will be referred back to the head of the Home Office for fresh consideration," the ruling reads.

A scheme to expel illegal migrants to Rwanda while their asylum applications are being processed was introduced by former UK Home Office chief Priti Patel in the spring. The scheme was intended to solve the problem of illegals arriving en masse in the kingdom from France, crossing the Channel in inflatable boats.

On 14 June, the British authorities were forced at the last minute to cancel the departure of the first plane carrying illegal immigrants to Rwanda after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled to suspend the scheme.