Keir Starmer has delivered on his party’s promise to scrap the former Conservative Government’s Rwanda immigration policy after being sworn in as the UK’s Prime Minister.

The UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, known colloquially as the Rwanda policy, was introduced in 2022 by Boris Johnson. It’s goal: to “deter people from arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel”. Any person entering the country to seek asylum would be sent to Rwanda for processing, after which they would either settle there or in a “safe third country”.

The policy took direct inspiration from Australia’s offshore processing regime, which continues to inflict immeasurable harm on both prior and current detainees.

Repeated attempts were made to push the controversial policy through, but to no avail. This culminated in Rishi Sunak’s decision to make delivering the plan a choice for voters at the 4 July election. Up to 52,000 people seeking asylum were facing deportation.

Out of sight, out of mind? A short history of the Rwanda policy

Despite fierce opposition from a number of political parties and refugee advocates, the first flight to Rwanda was scheduled for 14 June 2022 after receiving legal clearance from the UK High Court. A last-minute intervention from the European Court of Human Rights thwarted these plans.

This was followed by the UK Supreme Court’s decision in 2023 to deem the policy unlawful, considering Rwanda’s practice of refoulement - forcibly sending refugees and people seeking asylum back to the countries they fled.

Rishi Sunak at the Stop the Boats press conference, 2023 | screenshot from press conference recording

The Sunak Government responded to this setback with the introduction of a bill that would “make clear in UK law” Rwanda’s status as a safe country for people seeking asylum. The bill, a clear rejection of the UK’s obligations to its own Human Rights Act, the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, was passed on 25 April 2024.

In the months following, however, just four people volunteered to travel to Rwanda. No-one unwilling to be removed from the UK made the journey. The policy would now be taken to the people. By the time of the election, it had reportedly cost the taxpayer £700 million.

“Dead and buried”

Throughout the election, Starmer and the Labour party pressed for change. And after a landslide victory, Starmer declared the Rwanda policy “dead and buried” on his first full day as Prime Minister.

“These important first steps away from hostility… are welcome, but the bigger picture is the system itself.

“We need a system that supports and welcomes people seeking asylum. Talk of security, criminality, enforcement and returns risks perpetuating, rather than solving, the current dehumanising mess.” – Refugee Action media release in response to the UK’s election results

By abandoning the Rwanda policy, refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK will not be subject to the same horrors as those experienced as a result of Australia’s offshore processing regime.

The Australian model

From the Tampa Affair to the continued bilateral support for Operation Sovereign Borders, negative and damaging rhetoric towards refugees and people seeking asylum has been at the core of Australia’s refugee policies for decades.

Australia continues to rely on offshore processing in Regional Processing Centres, despite years of well-documented evidence alleging conditions akin to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

At least 14 people subjected to offshore detention have died, many from preventable causes, while thousands were forced to endure years of physical and mental abuse. In 2018, reports of resignation syndrome in detained children surfaced, a rare condition caused by prolonged exposure to trauma resulting in partial or complete withdrawal from the world.

There are currently just under 100 people detained on Nauru, at a cost of $350 million a year. And while the Regional Processing Centre on Manus was closed after Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional, just under 40 people remain in PNG, with little support from either government.

Countries around the world are seeking to externalise their protection obligations under the Refugee Convention and International law. And it is to the Australian model they turn to, with Conservative Party members even reviving slogans like “stop the boats”. It is shameful to think that such a destructive policy would be replicated by other nations.

Our turn

It is time for Australia to bring an end to its offshore processing scheme. What was initially devised as a short-term circuit breaker in response to a surge in maritime arrivals has become a cruel and enduring feature of Australia’s immigration policy. This inhumane approach towards refugees and people seeking asylum must be replaced with a safe and permanent pathway to settlement for every person subject to offshore processing.

This article was drafted by Amy Byrne