In 2022, the UK government’s ‘cash-for-humans’ deal with Rwanda was announced – a cruel and unworkable plan to remove people who came to the UK seeking safety. 

The first flight to Rwanda was scheduled for June 2022, but an eleventh hour intervention by the European Court of Human Rights temporarily grounded the flights. 

As part of our award-winning campaign, thousands of Freedom from Torture supporters pressured the airline Privilege Style, which was on the runway in June, to rule themselves out of the Rwanda scheme. 

With the government still unable to give the flights the greenlight, in June 2023, Freedom from Torture provided evidence and expertise to the Court of Appeal, showing how the government’s plan would have devastating effects on survivors of torture. The Court ruled that the plan was unlawful. 

In November 2023, the Supreme Court – the highest court in the UK – handed defeat to the government once more and ruled that Rwanda was not a safe country. The Court judged that the Rwanda scheme breached both British and international law. 

Ignoring the Courts, the government signed a treaty with the Rwandan government and introduced its ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Bill. The new legislation declared Rwanda as a ‘safe’ country – even though British and European Courts and hundreds of groups like the United Nations say otherwise. The Bill became an Act in April 2024.

Two years after the plan was announced and after ignoring the Courts, Rishi Sunak claimed that nothing would stand in his way of getting flights off the ground. But at Freedom from Torture we're not giving up the fight – in April, we launched our campaign targeting AirTanker, who we believe are in talks to help the government fly refugees to Rwanda.

In a victory for compassionate people across the country who joined our call for a humane asylum system, Rishi Sunak admitted that no Rwanda flights will take off before the General Election. 

After becoming Prime Minister, Keir Starmer confirmed that his new government is scrapping the Rwanda plan. On the month that Rishi Sunak had previously said he'd be flying refugees to Rwanda, the work of people like you, lawyers & refugees meant that we can celebrate this massive win.