A Rwanda-style deal could reportedly block the asylum bid of a Sri Lankan man jailed for assault on the Chagos Islands. Labour could seek to implement such a measure after refusing the 34-year-old entry to the UK due to public safety concerns. The man is currently serving a six-month sentence and cannot return to his home country as he was tourtured by the military.
After being convicted of assault and sexual crimes, he was granted refuge in Diego Garcia – the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. He is also known to have mental health issues, self harming and attempting suicide.
In November, the UK accepted 61 asylum seekers who fled Sri Lanka for the Chagos Islands on a fishing boat in 2021.
The jailed man was also on board, but not allowed in the UK after being jailed for 24 weeks for assault causing actual bodily harm.
He also received a 20-month suspended sentence for four countrs of sexual assault and arson.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and High Court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain both agreed that the man should not be allowed in the UK not only for satefy reasons, but because it could also undermine the immigration system.
They both added their support for the Foreign Office finding a third country to take the Sri Lankan.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “So is the risk that admitting the claimant in these high-profile circumstances, would tend to undermine the UK’s international commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.
“The task of evaluating the weight and importance of avoiding these risks falls, in the first instance, to ministers, not judges.
“Given the nature of the risks in question, the court should allow a wide margin to the democratically accountable ministers who, together with their officials, performed it.”
The man cannot challenge the blocking of his asylum bid as the Chagos Islands are not covered by the European Convention on Human Rights or the Refugee Convention.