European Court of Human Rights

15.06.2022

Further requests for interim measures in cases concerning asylum-seekers' imminent removal from the UK to Rwanda

On 14 June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights decided to grant an urgent interim measure, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, in the case of N.S.K. v. the United Kingdom (application no. 28774/22, formerly K.N. v. the United Kingdom), an asylum-seeker from Iraq who was facing imminent removal to Rwanda, following the recent establishment of an asylum partnership arrangement between the UK Government and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda. Under the Memorandum of Understanding establishing that partnership, the UK had made arrangements for a number of asylum seekers, whose claims were not being considered by the UK, including N.S.K., to be relocated to Rwanda by means of a charter flight due to depart yesterday at 22:30 (BST).

The Court indicated to the UK Government that the applicant should not be removed to Rwanda until three weeks after the delivery of the final domestic decision in his ongoing judicial review proceedings. The UK Government was notified, and a press release was published.

Meanwhile, in the course of the same day, five other individuals who were due to be removed to Rwanda on the same flight lodged applications with the Court and made requests for interim measures to halt their removal.

In two of the cases (R.M. v. the United Kingdom (application no. 29080/22) and H.N. v. the United Kingdom (application no. 29084/22)), the Court decided to apply an interim measure under Rule 39 staying the applicants' removal until 18:00 CET on Monday 20 June 2022 in order to enable their requests to be considered in greater detail.

In two applications (Abdollahi v. the United Kingdom (application no. 29081/22), and Shokri v. the United Kingdom (application no. 29082/22)), the requests for interim measures were rejected, as those applicants had not made use of the suspensive remedies available before the national courts.

One request was withdrawn before the parties had been notified of any decision since, in the meantime, the Home Office had withdrawn the applicant's removal directions.

Under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the Court may indicate interim measures to any State Party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Measures under Rule 39 are decided in connection with proceedings before the Court, without prejudging any subsequent decisions on the admissibility or merits of the case. The Court grants such requests only on an exceptional basis, when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm. For further information, see the factsheet on interim measures.

This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. To receive the Court's press releases, please subscribe here: wwwiechr.coe.int/RSS/en or follow us on Twitter @ECHR CEDH.

Press contacts echrpress@echr.coe.int | tel: +33 3 90 21 42 08

We would encourage journalists to send their enquiries via email.

Jane Swift (tel: + 33 3 88 41 29 04)

Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 30)

Denis Lambert (tel: + 33 3 90 21 41 09)

Inci Ertekin (tel: + 33 3 90 21 55 30)

Neil Connolly (tel: + 33 3 90 21 48 05)

The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.