Asylum plan: UK solicitors could be stationed in Rwanda

British lawyers may go to courts in Rwanda as part of an agreement that allows the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

It would try to solve the problems that the Supreme Court raised when it said the Rwanda plan was not allowed last month.

More information will be given on Tuesday. Home Secretary James Cleverly will go to Rwanda to sign the agreement.

It will be followed by a new law to stop the plan from being blocked in the courts again.

At the same time, the government is going to announce its plans to lower the number of people who can legally move to the country. This is because new data shows that there were a lot of people who moved to the country last year.

Starting in April 2022, some people who are seeking asylum will be sent to Rwanda to apply there.

After the Supreme Court ruling last month, government officials are hurrying to bring back the policy before spring, when they want the first flights to start.

People who are not given permission to stay in Rwanda as refugees can try to stay there for other reasons, or they can ask for protection in another safe country.

The highest court in the UK said no to the policy because it was not certain that the courts in Rwanda would follow a law called non-refoulment.

A country can’t send asylum seekers back to their home if it’s not safe for them.

After deciding, the government said it would ask for a formal agreement with Rwanda. It thought this would give better legal promises than the current deal they have.

A new agreement is almost finalized. It may involve British lawyers working in Rwandan courts to help with the Supreme Court’s worries, according to the media.

The Sunday Times said that the agreement would give Rwanda an extra £15m to hire more people to make its asylum processing system better and bigger.

The UK government has given £140m to Rwanda for the program. The first flight was supposed to happen in June 2022, but it was cancelled because of legal problems.

The Rwanda policy was made because many more people were coming to the UK illegally in small boats.

Legal migration

The government will also announce later how they plan to decrease the number of people coming to the country legally.

Backbenchers are asking ministers to do something because official numbers showed that last year 745,000 more people migrated than was thought.

Ministers are thinking about getting rid of the list of jobs where foreign workers can be hired for less pay than usual.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has said it may be a good idea to limit the number of people who can come to the UK with migrants.