British lawmakers have voted to support the government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda, keeping alive a policy that has angered human rights groups and cost the U.K. at least $300 million, without a single flight getting off the ground.
The House of Commons voted 313-269 to approve the government’s Rwanda bill in principle, sending it on for further scrutiny.
The bill seeks to overcome a ruling by the UK Supreme Court that the plan to send migrants who reach Britain across the English Channel in boats to Rwanda – where they would stay permanently - is illegal.
Normally Tuesday’s vote would have been a formality. Sunak’s Conservatives have a substantial majority, and the last time a government bill was defeated at its first Commons vote — known as second reading — was in 1986.
Minister flies back
But the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill faces opposition from hardliners on the Conservative right, who say it does not go far enough to ensure migrants who arrive in the UK without permission can be deported.
The government was so nervous about the result that it ordered Climate Minister Graham Stuart to fly back from the COP28 summit in Dubai, where negotiations are in their final hours, for the vote.
On social media, Sunak urged lawmakers to support “the toughest ever anti-illegal immigration legislation.”
“This bill will allow us to control who comes into this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “To stop the boats, we need to back this bill.”
Controversial policy
The Rwanda plan is an expensive, highly controversial policy that has not, so far, sent a single person to the East African country. But it has become a totemic issue for Sunak, central to his pledge to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorized migrants to the UK across the English Channel from France. More than 29,000 people have done so this year, down from 46,000 in all of 2022.
Sunak believes delivering on his promise will allow the Conservatives to close a big opinion-poll gap with the opposition Labour Party before an election that must be held in the next year.
The plan has faced multiple legal challenges, and last month Britain’s top court ruled it illegal, saying Rwanda isn’t a safe destination for refugees.
In response, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak’s government argues that the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe destination, regardless of the Supreme Court ruling.
'Built on sand'
The law, if approved by Parliament, would allow the government to “disapply” sections of UK human rights law when it comes to Rwanda-related asylum claims.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called the bill a “gimmick.”
“It’s built on sand. It isn’t going to work,” he said.
The bill has faced criticism from centrist Conservative lawmakers concerned that it sidelines the courts. Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told lawmakers that “this Parliament is sovereign, but we also have the independence of the courts and the rule of law to bear in mind.”
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