London – Capital of the UK. UK: Airlines should not facilitate illegal removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda Human rights
Independent UN experts today expressed concern about the role of British airlines and air transport authorities in facilitating the illegal removal of migrants to Rwanda. Asylum seekers are being expelled under an agreement between the UK and Rwandan governments and the Rwanda Security Bill.
“Even if the UK-Rwanda Agreement and the Rwanda Security Bill are approved, airlines and aviation regulators may be complicit in breaching international human rights and court orders by facilitating expulsions to Rwanda,” the experts said.
They stressed that the removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda or any other country where they may face removal violates the right to freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that deportation to Rwanda violated Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
“When airlines and aviation authorities enforce government decisions that violate human rights, they must be held accountable for their conduct,” experts say.
“As emphasized in the Guiding Principles The United Nations Office on Business and Human Rights, aviation regulators, international organizations and the business community have a responsibility to respect human rights,” they note.
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UN experts are in contact with the UK Government and local, European and international aviation regulators. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also expressed their concern about what is happening.
The Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Women and Children, Siobhan, made a statement on Monday Mullally, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of migrants, Gehad Madi, and the Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of the so-called “Special Procedures” of the Rights Council person. They are not UN staff and are independent of any government or organization. They serve in an individual capacity and are not paid for their work.