Rwanda says UN refugee agency lying in British asylum policy case

12/6/2024 16:35

        Rwanda said the U.N. refugee agency had lied when the organisation told a British court this week that asylum seekers sent to the East African country could be moved on again to states where they risked torture or death.
        
        Lawyers representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the court on Monday that Rwanda's asylum system was inadequate, as part of a challenge to the British government's policy to deport asylum seekers there.
        
        The lawyers said removing asylum seekers to Rwanda put them at risk of being transferred again in a banned process known as refoulement - building on past evidence which formed an important part of the UK Supreme Court's reasoning when it ruled last year that the British plan was unlawful.
        
        "UNHCR is lying," Rwanda's government spokesperson said in a statement late on Tuesday.
        
        "The organisation seems intent on presenting fabricated allegations to U.K. courts about Rwanda's treatment of asylum seekers, while still partnering with us to bring African migrants from Libya to safety in Rwanda," the spokesperson added.