“The Prime Minister … will not let a foreign court get in the way of this Rwanda policy. … It’s a court that’s based in Strasbourg”

Facts

Discussing the government’s Rwanda plan on BBC Radio 4 Today with presenter Mishal Husain, Minister of State for Illegal Migration Michael Tomlinson described the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) – often referred to as the Strasbourg Court – as a “foreign court.”

“The PM will not let a foreign court get in the way of Rwanda policy.”

“You know it’s not a foreign court”

“Well, the Strasbourg Court the ECHR”

“It’s an international court. Foreign means it belongs to another country”

G’ment minister Michael Tomlinson corrected on #r4today pic.twitter.com/8RINsqbBwo

— Darshna Soni (@darshnasoni) January 17, 2024

The ECtHR is an international court that enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, which the UK signed in 1951. The ECtHR is therefore not a “foreign court”.

In April 2022, the UK announced a new immigration policy aimed at reducing asylum seekers. This policy would force some individuals arriving in the UK without proper documentation to be sent to Rwanda for their asylum claims to be processed.

In June 2022 the ECtHR blocked the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

In December 2022 the UK High Court ruled the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to be lawful. In June 2023 the UK Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling, saying the policy leaves people sent to Rwanda open to human rights breaches.

On 15 November 2023 the UK Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal ruling finding the policy unlawful.

Verdict

The ECtHR is not a foreign court as Michael Tomlinson claimed. It is an international court.

Furthermore, the Rwanda bill was blocked by the UK Supreme court in November 2023, on the basis that Rwanda was not safe and that asylum-seekers could be at risk of refoulement – the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution. The UK Supreme Court is not a foreign court either.

We emailed Michael Tomlinson’s office offering him the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply. We also emailed the Home Office with our analysis, they responded “I’m afraid we can only respond to media outlets, so this wouldn’t be one for us.”

Not Client Journalism

Today programme presenter Mishal Hussein deserves credit for correcting Tomlinson at once, pointing out that “foreign means it belongs to another country … it’s an international court.”