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Rwanda asylum plan: UK ministers partly.

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The first flight that was scheduled to take refugees from the UK to Rwanda was canceled at eleven in June

Ministers partially lost an attempt to keep a series of comments about Rwanda confidential from an adviser.

The High Court said on Wednesday that some of what the chancellor told ministers should be disclosed in a major court case relating to refugee policy in Rwanda.

Government lawyers said disclosure of the comments would damage relations with the African country.

The court heard that the chancellor warned the ministers that the government of Rwanda had tortured and killed political opponents.

While this warning of political violence was revealed in court on Tuesday, other comments from the expert remain confidential.

The FCDO Adviser had considered revisions to the government's report on Rwanda's human rights record.

This document was updated as ministers planned to send asylum seekers on a flight to Rwanda under a controversial resettlement scheme announced in April.

The one-way plan, worth at least £120m to Rwanda, aims to discourage illegal crossings of the English Channel - but remains pending until the Supreme Court decides whether it is legal.

In court, the government said another 10 comments from the unnamed official should be kept confidential, rather than used as evidence in that upcoming court case.

This means it will not be disclosed to the group of immigrants and charities who have been challenging the air travel policy.

But in his ruling Lord Justice Lewis said six of the official's comments, or parts of them, should appear in the legal battle next month.

He said that four must remain strictly confidential because of the damage they could do to international relations.

"I agree that disclosure of the 10 excerpts would lead to a real risk of causing serious harm to the UK's international relations, in particular with Rwanda," he said.

“I am aware that the government ... considers the policy by which asylum seekers' claims are determined in Rwanda is an important way to deter people from seeking to cross the English Channel in boats or by other means.

"Disclosure of the material in the case in this case would undermine the development and implementation of that policy."



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The first flight that was scheduled to take refugees from the UK to Rwanda was canceled at eleven in June

Ministers partially lost an attempt to keep a series of comments about Rwanda confidential from an adviser.

The High Court said on Wednesday that some of what the chancellor told ministers should be disclosed in a major court case relating to refugee policy in Rwanda.

Government lawyers said disclosure of the comments would damage relations with the African country.

The court heard that the chancellor warned the ministers that the government of Rwanda had tortured and killed political opponents.

While this warning of political violence was revealed in court on Tuesday, other comments from the expert remain confidential.

The FCDO Adviser had considered revisions to the government's report on Rwanda's human rights record.

This document was updated as ministers planned to send asylum seekers on a flight to Rwanda under a controversial resettlement scheme announced in April.

The one-way plan, worth at least £120m to Rwanda, aims to discourage illegal crossings of the English Channel - but remains pending until the Supreme Court decides whether it is legal.

In court, the government said another 10 comments from the unnamed official should be kept confidential, rather than used as evidence in that upcoming court case.

This means it will not be disclosed to the group of immigrants and charities who have been challenging the air travel policy.

But in his ruling Lord Justice Lewis said six of the official's comments, or parts of them, should appear in the legal battle next month.

He said that four must remain strictly confidential because of the damage they could do to international relations.

"I agree that disclosure of the 10 excerpts would lead to a real risk of causing serious harm to the UK's international relations, in particular with Rwanda," he said.

“I am aware that the government ... considers the policy by which asylum seekers' claims are determined in Rwanda is an important way to deter people from seeking to cross the English Channel in boats or by other means.

"Disclosure of the material in the case in this case would undermine the development and implementation of that policy."



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