Rishi Sunak has suffered another huge blow over his Rwanda plan after a top judge ruled it can’t be applied in Northern Ireland.
The PM was told the Illegal Migration Act – which paves the way for the controversial deportation project – undermines post-Brexit protections that he himself agreed. In a judgement on Belfast High Court, Mr Justice Humphreys said parts of the act are incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Sunak hit back at the ruling, saying it “changes nothing”. His Windsor Framework agreement with the EU – which was reached to correct errors in Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal – says that human rights rules protected by the 1998 peace agreement can’t be scrubbed out.
The judge found that several parts of the Act cause a “significant” reduction of rights which asylum seekers are entitled to under the Good Friday Agreement. He said: “I have found that there is a relevant diminution of right in each of the areas relied upon by the applicants.”
He added: “Each of the statutory provisions under consideration infringes the protection afforded to RSE (Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity) in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.” It followed two legal challenges over the policy.
The judge also said it was incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which Tory right-wingers have urged the PM to withdraw from. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which challenged the Act, cited the case of a 16-year-old asylum seeker from Iran living in Northern Ireland after arriving in the UK as an unaccompanied child.
The boy, who travelled from France by small boat and claimed asylum in July 2023, has said he would be killed or sent to prison if he returned to Iran.
Outside court, solicitor Sinead Marmion, who represented the teenage Iranian asylum seeker applicant, said the judgment was “hugely significant”. Ms Marmion said the judgment would prevent the Rwanda scheme applying in Northern Ireland.
“This is a huge thorn in the Government’s side and it has completely put a spanner in the works,” she said. “There’s a huge obstacle in the way of them being able to actually implement that in Northern Ireland now, as it’s been found to be incompatible with the Windsor Framework.”