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Add to Preferred SourcesBritain may be forced to take in refugees landing at its two military bases in Cyprus after a UK court of appeal ruled it is obliged to do so under international law.
The ruling was made on a case concerning six families living on the Dhekelia base who were denied access to Britain in 2014 by then-Home Secretary Theresa May. The families, originally from Ethiopia, Sudan and Syria, have been stuck at the military bases in “legal limbo” for 18 years, despite living in wholly unacceptable conditions, their lawyers claim.
May at the time denied entry to the refugees, among a group of 78 people rescued from a stranded Lebanese fishing boat bound for Italy. Despite having strong ties with Britain, she said they could be resettled in Cyprus instead.
The court, however, overturned May’s order at the time and said although the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention did not apply as a matter of international law, the UK still had to act in the “spirit” of the convention.
That order was taken a step further on Thursday as three judges ruled the convention applies directly to the bases and the UK is therefore under legal obligation to protect refugees landing there. It urged serving Home Secretary to “rapidly” reconsider the decision to admit the refugees.
“We will carefully consider the implications of this decision and whether to appeal to the Supreme Court,” a Home Office spokesman.
Source: RT. Read full article here.
26 May, 2017