Amnesty International condemns UK High Court decision to send asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda

(19 Dec 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 19 December 2022 ++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++ 1. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Valdez Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Director at Amnesty International UK: "A very disappointing judgement from the High Court now, which is certainly going to encourage the government to think that it will be able to start deporting people to Rwanda. We are opposed to that for a wide range of reasons, including Rwanda's own human rights record and its need to address the rights of people, who have sought asylum on its territory. This country, the UK, ought instead to simply be addressing the rights to asylum of people who have sought asylum on its, the UK’s territory, rather than seeking to expel people and wash its hands of its own responsibilities by passing them to Rwanda." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Valdez Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Director at Amnesty International UK "Is it going to have an impact on whether people seek asylum in the UK? And I think the answer to that is it is unlikely to deter people from making dangerous journeys to seek safety in the UK. But it might deter people from coming forward and making themselves known to the authorities. And if that is what happens, there will be just more people making very dangerous journeys only to be thoroughly exploited in the UK because they are having to hide. In terms of the impact in the region of Rwanda, I don't think that the small number of people being expelled, if that's what happens to Rwanda is going to have an impact directly. But in terms of the signal that it sends to Rwanda or indeed anywhere else in the world that the UK is not prepared to take its responsibilities but prefers to try to shunt them on to somebody else. Well, that’s a disastrous message. And there is a lot of obviously of hundreds of thousands of people displaced in the region of Rwanda, they need government standing up to protect them not thinking that they too can try and shunt their responsibilities on like the UK is trying to do." ++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++ STORYLINE: Amnesty International said on Monday that a ruling by Britain’s High Court to back the UK government’s plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda was “disappointing”. Steve Valdez Symonds of Amnesty International UK said his group opposes the government’s controversial plan for a wide range of reasons, including Rwanda's own human rights record. “The UK ought instead to simply be addressing the rights to asylum of people who have sought asylum on its, the UK’s territory, rather than seeking to expel people and wash its hands of its own responsibilities by passing them to Rwanda", Symonds added. The U.K. plans to send some migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in small boats to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in Rwanda rather than returning to the UK. Symonds said the move will not deter people from moving to the UK but rather asylum seekers will face more exploitation as they seek better lives. =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected]. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...