UK Parliament's Lower House approves bill to deport migrants to Rwanda

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Jan 2024 05:34
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According to the parliament's website, UK lawmakers backed the bill in a 320-to-276 vote.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reacts as he gives a press conference, following the Supreme Court’s Rwanda policy judgement, at Downing Street, in central London, on November 15, 2023. (Photo by Leon Neal / POOL / AFP)

The lower house of the United Kingdom's parliament, the House of Commons, on Wednesday, voted in the final reading in favor of a bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

According to the parliament's website, UK lawmakers backed the bill in a 320-to-276 vote. 45 right-wing lawmakers from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative party had threatened to kill the bill, but they ultimately backed down following a crucial last-minute meeting, where the leaders of the group determined that voting alongside the Labour party to defeat the bill during an election year might pose a risk of government collapse.

The latest legislation, if passed, would compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country. It would also give UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation.

While the bill cleared its third and final hurdle in the elected House of Commons, it will need to be approved by the unelected upper chamber House of Lords before it becomes law.

The government does not hold a majority in the Lords, where members are likely to scrutinize the proposals and offer a number of amendments, setting up another battle with Downing Street. The legislation could also still be blocked by legal challenges from individuals affected by the deportation decision.

The Guardian has learned that the UK Home Office has already chosen the initial 100 individuals for deportation.

In November, the UK Supreme Court ruled that UK authorities' plans to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda were unlawful. Sunak then announced his intention to introduce new "emergency legislation" to ensure deportation plans could not be blocked again.

The United Kingdom and Rwanda signed a migration agreement in 2022, under which people identified by the UK government as undocumented migrants or asylum seekers would be deported to Rwanda for processing, asylum, and resettlement.

The plan has drawn criticism from human rights organizations and some politicians who believe the measure will not help stem the flow of migrants.

The first deportation of migrants from the UK to Rwanda was scheduled for June 14, 2022. However, the flight was canceled at the last minute due to the European Court of Human Rights ruling.

London has already paid Kigali £240 million (280 million euros) since ex-prime minister Boris Johnson first announced the plan in April 2022.

Sunak has pledged to slash record levels of regular migration and stop asylum seekers crossing from France to Britain in small boats and insists the Rwanda bill is essential to deter migrants from considering traveling to the United Kingdom via unauthorized routes.