What is the UK’s ‘Safety of Rwanda’ bill and why are MPs fighting over it?
Al Jazeera
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushes the bill through the House of Commons but not without much squabbling.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has succeeded in pushing his asylum and immigration bill through the House of Commons after an expected rebellion by Conservative Party MPs came to nothing.
Some MPs from Sunak’s own party had threatened to vote against the “Safety of Rwanda” deportation bill on the grounds that government plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda were not robust enough to survive legal challenges.
But in the end, only 11 hardline Conservatives rebelled and the legislation passed on Wednesday evening by a 320-276 vote.
Sunak has made his anti-immigration “Stop the Boats” campaign central to his government’s legislative programme as he seeks to deter asylum seekers from trying to reach the United Kingdom across the English Channel.
But the Rwanda deportation bill, which seeks to deport refugees and migrants to Rwanda to have their asylum claims heard and for resettlement, has been anything but plain sailing.
