Interview with Maître William Julié for FRANCE 24 on the bill approved by the British Parliament regarding the expulsion of asylum seekers who have entered the UK illegally, to Rwanda.
This discussion provided an opportunity to clarify the legal concept of a ‘safe country’, as well as Rwanda’s and the UK’s compliance with their obligations with regard to internationally recognised fundamental rights.
This controversial bill entails a fundamental change in the procedure for lodging asylum applications in the UK: they will now have to be filed directly in Rwanda. These new provisions raise real legal questions about compliance with the Geneva Convention, the principle of non-refoulement, and the guarantee of quality in the processing of cases.
While the vote in favour of this bill may be politically motivated, the member states of the Council of Europe, including the UK, remain bound by the fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the decisions of its Court.