British lawmakers pass Sunak’s controversial Rwanda asylum plan

The British parliament has approved a bill to allow the country to send refugees arriving in the UK to Rwanda, as the government overcame rebels in its own party and defied critics who warn the bill breaches international law.

The British parliament has approved a controversial bill to allow the country to send refugees arriving in the UK to Rwanda, in east Africa, as the government overcame rebels in its own party and defied critics who warn the bill breaches international law. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government won the vote in parliament by a majority of 320 to 276. The victory was a huge relief for Sunak: only 24 hours earlier 60 of his own Conservative MPs had rebelled by backing amendments to strengthen the bill. The amendments were defeated, causing concern that these MPs would also rebel on the main bill. The Rwanda Safety Bill is supposed to end legal challenges that have thus far prevented Britain from sending refugees to Rwanda, after the two countries struck a deal back in 2022. The deal came after a dramatic increase in refugees arriving in Britain via small boats arranged by human trafficking gangs. The UK wants to send people arriving illegally in Britain to Rwanda where they will remain while their asylum claims are processed. If they are successful, they will be able to return to the UK. If they are unsuccessful, they will be able to stay in Rwanda or seek asylum elsewhere. Despite the deal being in place and Britain sending the Rwandan government hundreds of millions of dollars, no migrants have yet been sent to Rwanda. Judges and courts have argued that Rwanda is not a safe country to send refugees as they might face persecution in Rwanda or worse, be sent back to the place from which they have fled. That, critics say, is a clear violation of international human rights laws and refugee conventions that the UK is signed up to. The Rwanda Safety Bill is designed to alleviate those concerns by providing assurances and oversight that the Rwandan government will comply with its human rights obligation. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is not convinced and said on Tuesday that is still sees the Rwanda deal, even with the bill, as incompatible with international refugee law. This likely means that even if the bill becomes law, there will be legal challenges.