Austria and the UK have signed a cooperation agreement to work on a migration plan that would send asylum seekers to a third nation.
The “migration and security agreement” that the UK’s Suella Braverman and Austria’s Gerhard Karner signed calls for the two nations to collaborate closely on an asylum policy which would resemble the one the United Kingdom is considering, namely deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Due to the issue, Austria and the United Kingdom are pressing European nations to alter The European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Refugee Convention.
The difference in Austria’s approach to the system is that it would allow people whose asylum requests are approved to return to Austria. Those who are unsuccessful will be returned to their home countries.
On June 14, a first flight carrying deportees was supposed to depart Britain for Rwanda, but a last-minute injunction from the European Court of Human Rights prevented it from taking off.
The UK’s Supreme Court is currently debating the controversial policy and determining whether it is lawful. Should this pass, deportation flights from Britain would begin in February.
Even if the contentious policy is approved by the British high court, there would still be a barrier to its actual implementation. The majority of airlines have declined to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, according to The Guardian. Partner of the government, AirTanker, declared: “AirTanker has no intention of operating deportation flights to Rwanda.”