The rise and fall of the Rwanda Act

Despite the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act (SORA) no longer being in place, it remains an important case study, as it demonstrates the potential for elective dictatorship and the weakness of the Supreme Court in the UK

Emma Kilheeney McSherry and Steve Foster

Immigration lawyer Toufique Hossain and his team outside the Supreme Court in November 2023, following their success at arguing that the Conservative government’s Rwanda policy was unlawful because of risks to asylum-seekers

In April 2024, SORA became law, allowing the government to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda, despite significant opposition among both MPs and peers, including many leading Conservatives. However, after winning the UK general election in July, the Labour government informed the Rwandan government that it would end the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, effectively reversing the Conservative government’s scheme.

In November 2023 the Supreme Court, in the case R (AAA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, declared that the government’s policy to send asylumseekers to Rwanda was unlawful. Together with the Rwanda Treaty, SORA was the government’s response.