Evan Easton-Calabria addresses the UK-Rwanda migration deal
On November 15, 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. The plan would have seen tens of thousands of asylum seekers sent from the UK to Rwanda.
In an article for The Conversation, Feinstein Senior Researcher Dr. Evan Easton-Calabria examines the implications of this ruling, not only for the UK and its migration policy, but also for Rwanda itself and for the refugees already residing there.
Easton-Calabria cites evidence considered in the UK ruling, which adds to ongoing documentation about Rwanda’s poor human rights record and treatment of asylum seekers. However, she also addresses the wider hypocrisy inherent to the current global model of refugee responsibility-sharing, which the UK’s proposed asylum plan represents.
Ultimately, she concludes, “Just as Rwanda’s human rights record should not be brushed under the rug, neither should the international community’s limited support for refugees.”