In Belfast on Monday, a High Court judge ruled that a UK law allowing the deportation of asylum-seekers to Rwanda should not be enforced in Northern Ireland due to human rights concerns.
Judge Michael Humphreys sided with separate challenges to the legislation, which grants authorities the power to detain and remove asylum-seekers to the East African nation. The challenges were brought forth by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and a 16-year-old boy from Iran who sought asylum in the UK.
Lawyers representing the NIHRC argued that the Illegal Migration Act violated the UK’s domestic and international obligations under the Windsor Framework, an agreement between London and the EU governing post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework ensures that rights protected by Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday Agreement are maintained, even if it means differing laws from the rest of the UK.
Judge Humphreys concurred, finding that certain provisions of the Illegal Migration Act infringed upon the rights of asylum-seekers in Northern Ireland as outlined in the peace accord.
Furthermore, the case alleged violations of rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which the UK is a signatory. As a result, Judge Humphreys ordered that sections of the law subject to legal challenges should be “disapplied” in the province.
Human rights lawyer Sinead Marmion, representing the teenage asylum-seeker, hailed the judgment as a victory for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland, ensuring their legal protection and welcome.
The ruling poses a significant setback to the implementation of the Rwanda deportation scheme in Northern Ireland, as it has been deemed incompatible with the Windsor Framework, Marmion noted.
This ruling follows a series of legal challenges against the UK government’s initiatives to curb irregular migration, particularly from small boats crossing the Channel from northern France.
Similar to Scotland, Northern Ireland operates under its own distinct legal system, separate from England and Wales.
The ruling coincides with a growing dispute between Ireland and the UK over the return of asylum-seekers from the EU member state to the UK. Ireland recently announced plans to enact emergency laws to deport migrants arriving from Northern Ireland back to the UK.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s offer for Ireland to join the Rwanda deportation scheme was dismissed by Irish Premier Simon Harris as “more satire than news.”