Relief for asylum seekers after Rwanda decision - as doubts raised over whether policy would have worked
Asylum seekers who were watching the verdict in the Supreme Court say they were "scared" of being sent to Rwanda and feared it was no safer than the countries they had fled.
Wednesday 15 November 2023 18:15, UK
Watching the Supreme Court deliver its verdict on the government's Rwanda policy, a group of asylum seekers clapped and shook each other's hands.
The possibility of being sent to Rwanda has been hanging over people who are waiting for decisions on their asylum applications.
Now, the UK's highest court has ruled the government's plan - which would have seen some asylum seekers sent to the African country - is unlawful.
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Haval, 34, who came to the UK from Iraq, says at the migrant hotel where he's staying in Staffordshire people have been worried which way the court would rule.
"I'm very happy because we don't go to Rwanda - we like England," he says.
Mohammed, 20, is in the same hotel as Haval. He came to the UK from Syria and has footage on his phone from the crowded small boat he travelled across the Channel in.
That was in August this year so he took the risk knowing there was a chance he could be sent to Rwanda.
Speaking via a translator, he said: "The people were very scared and we were also very scared of this news and what we were hearing but in the end we couldn't give up and we couldn't just go back.
"We came to the UK to seek safety in a better country and live... and actually we're thinking Rwanda isn't going to be so different from our country. We're not going to have any safety there or we don't know how the life is going to be there."
Despite that, he doesn't think the government's Rwanda policy - had it been allowed - would have stopped the boats.
"Even if the court had decided yes to Rwanda, I don't think this will have stopped people because people are fleeing not because of Rwanda or because they're scared of Rwanda. They're scared for their lives and their safety and what's going on in the Middle East," he says.
Another asylum seeker from Iraq, who's also in the same hotel but didn't want to be named, said: "Rwanda is not safe and asylum seekers came to the UK for more safety."
"No one wants to go to Rwanda", he says, adding that "maybe it would have stopped the boats but the government does not know because so many people are suffering in their own countries".
As they returned to their hotel, there is still uncertainty about their futures and whether they'll be allowed to stay in the UK.
But they all agreed they feel safer now they won't be put on planes to Rwanda.
In a nearby town centre, we found people who were hoping the Supreme Court would rule in favour of the government.
Christine, 78, said she feels frustrated.
"The people who work in the courts have got money, they're ok with their lives. What they don't understand is there's people really, really desperate for homes and they can't afford to live, basically, and we're giving all our money to these asylum seekers," she says.
Billy, 53, agrees, but has sympathy with some of the people claiming asylum here.
"Some genuinely can't go back to their countries and I understand they can't go back and maybe we try and support them in some way.
"With everything that's going on in the UK at the moment, we're in a mess, but I also understand that they are too and it is a shame with what's going on.
"I know in some countries it's hard for them, I really do understand that. It is a shame. But we need to look after our own backyard first."