The UK – Rwanda Migration Partnership under the scrutiny of the Strasbourg Court: Externalising asylum while bypassing refugee law?

On June 14th the European Court of Human Rights granted urgent interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court in the case of N.S.K. v. the United Kingdom (application no. 28774/22). The contribution outlines the decision of the Court, while shedding light on the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the UK and Rwanda within the context of their Migration and Economic Development Partnership. The post also seizes the chance to contextualize the UK-Rwanda agreement within a migration policy pursued by the UK Government since 2003 and stigmatizes the policy’s adverse consequences on the human rights of asylum-seekers deported in the African country. Finally, the post emphasizes the connection between the UK-Rwanda partnership and the European Union support for externalisation strategies and for the outsourcing of asylum-processing, as demonstrated by the incorporation of such policies in the recent proposal for a New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

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Francesca Romana Partipilo è dottoranda di ricerca presso la Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna e visiting researcher presso l'Università di Utrecht. Si è laureata in Giurisprudenza all'Università di Trento, ha conseguito un master in Diritti Umani presso la Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, ed ha lavorato come ricercatrice presso il British Institute of International and Comparative Law (Londra). Ha svolto attività di volontariato in un campo profughi in Grecia e presso il British Refugee Council, a Londra. La sua ricerca si colloca all'intersezione tra il diritto dei rifugiati, il diritto del mare e il diritto internazionale dei diritti umani.