UK deportation plan abuses dignity: lawyer

The UK government's plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda undermines the "basic dignity" of people who are escaping war and oppression, a lawyer argued on Monday during an appeals court hearing aimed at blocking the implementation of the policy.

The Court of Appeal in London heard an appeal filed by a coalition of groups including immigration rights advocates and public employee unions. They were seeking to overturn a lower-court ruling that would allow the first deportation flight to take off as scheduled on Tuesday.

Separately, activists were challenging the deportations on a person-by-person basis, seeking to ensure that no migrants will be eligible for deportation even if the flights are allowed to go ahead.

Raza Husain, a lawyer for the migrants, said the government's plan involves the forced removal of asylum-seekers to a country they don't want to travel to as part of a policy intended to deter others from trying to enter Britain.

"This amounts, on any view, to a serious interference with basic dignity … where those individuals have already suffered significant trauma and have mental health issues," he said in the court filings.

Initially, some 37 individuals were scheduled to be removed on the first flight to Rwanda, but the number has dwindled in the face of legal challenges. The government has not provided details, but charities say they include people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria, Reuters reported.

The policy, which was challenged in the High Court last week and ruled legal, is aimed at deterring the large numbers of people who attempt to enter the UK as stowaways in vehicles or on small, often overcrowded vessels.

The UK has agreed on a deal with Rwanda to send some asylum-seekers to the country in return for an initial payment of 120 million pounds ($148 million).

With at least 10,000 people having been intercepted trying to illegally enter the UK so far this year, Brandon Lewis, the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary, told Sky News on Sunday: "This is a policy that is going to deliver to ensure that modern slavery and these people smugglers know that their criminal methods will be broken down."

Process 'appalling'

Several newspapers reported that the Prince of Wales is among critics of the policy, and that he described London's agreement to pay the Rwandan government to process some refugees as "appalling".

The launch of the new policy will be accompanied by a publicity campaign, in which Home Secretary Priti Patel will warn undocumented economic migrants not to target the UK.

The ads will be posted on Facebook and Instagram in many languages and warn that "new measures will make it harder for you to reach and remain in the UK".

"Evil criminal gangs are putting profit over people by facilitating dangerous and illegal small-boat crossings. We have a duty to warn people of the consequences of these journeys, and expose the lies sold to vulnerable migrants by inhumane people smugglers," Patel said.

The Mail reported on Sunday that Patel is also planning to overhaul slavery laws, so they cannot be used by critics of her policy to block flights to Rwanda.

The paper said the UK is also considering reducing its financial contributions to United Nations bodies after some were critical of the policy.

Sky News reported on Sunday that the Rwandan government had urged people to give the policy a chance.

Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson for the government in Kigali, said it is actually "well thought out".

Makolo added that governments in Africa have a responsibility to give people a chance to live "decent" lives on the continent without the need to emigrate.

She said it was "appalling" that people had to risk "their lives crossing the ocean, trying to cross the desert", rather than being able to live comfortably at home.

Agencies contributed to this story.