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Agreement ends Rwanda scheme legal battle

London’s High Court has effectively killed off a plan by the previous British government to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda, according to the Law Society Gazette of England and Wales.

An ongoing legal battle centred on the Rwanda scheme had been listed for a three-day hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Sir James Eadie KC, for the British government, said that an agreement had been reached in relation to the three named claimants – SM, SY, and YXY – in the case.

He added: “Those claimants’ cases will be finally disposed of and withdrawn subject to costs.”

Next steps

The Gazette says that the ruling follows new Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that the Rwanda scheme, which he described as a "gimmick", was “dead and buried before it started”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also confirmed that no removals to Rwanda under the deal reached with the country by the Conservative government were scheduled or intended to be scheduled.

A separate legal challenge by the charity Asylum Aid will continue, however, as the charity says that it wants to find out what the Home Secretary’s next steps are.