British Parliament passes controversial bill to expel migrants in Rwanda

The British Parliament approved a bill overnight Monday to Tuesday to allow asylum seekers who entered the UK illegally to be expelled to Rwanda, after an endless battle between the upper house, which is unwilling to recognize the text as controversial, and the lower house.

The project, announced two years ago by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government and presented as the flagship measure of its policy to tackle illegal immigration, aims to send asylum seekers to Rwanda from wherever they came from and entered the UK illegally, including across the border with England. Canal by boats.

The controversial text was passed by the British Parliament on Monday night after an endless battle between a reluctant upper house and lower house. The House of Lords, where the Conservatives do not have a majority, did everything to delay the final adoption of the text, constantly sending it back to the House of Commons with amendments, which, in turn, were systematically rejected by MPs. A protracted maneuver known as “parliamentary ping-pong.”

This text is supported by a new agreement between London and Kigali. It involves paying Rwanda significant sums in exchange for accepting migrants. In particular, it designates Rwanda as a safe third country. However, while Rwanda bills itself as one of the most stable countries on the African continent, its president, Paul Kagame, has been accused of governing the country in a climate of fear, suppressing dissent and suppressing freedom of expression.

The Lords have long wanted to demand that Rwanda should not be considered a safe country until an independent watchdog says so. They also wanted British agents, allies and collaborators overseas, including Afghans who had fought alongside British forces, to be exempt from deportation.

Ultimately, the upper house, whose members are not elected, decided to submit to the will of the House of Commons, determined by popular vote, and decided not to make any further changes to the text, ensuring its entry into force.

Eviction within 10–12 weeks

Earlier on Monday, Rishi Sunak assured his government was “committed” to deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks of the legislation being passed.

The stakes are also electoral for the prime minister, who has been in power for 18 months, while the Conservatives are largely the underdogs in the upcoming legislative elections. “We are ready,” “these flights will take off, no matter what happens,” the prime minister said at a morning press conference.

The government has mobilized hundreds of staff, including judges, to quickly process potential appeals from illegal migrants and has opened up 2,200 detention facilities for them while they wait for their cases to be heard.

“Charter planes” had also been booked, Rishi Sunak added, although media reports said the government was struggling to persuade airlines to contribute to the evictions. “No foreign court will stop us from taking down the planes,” said Rishi Sunak, repeating the Conservative mantra since the first expulsions to Rwanda were blocked by European justice.

Attack on human rights

This government bill has been sharply criticized by the Labor Opposition, migrant aid associations, the head of the Church of England and even the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who considered that it goes “against the fundamental principles of human rights.”

On Monday, the UN special rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, migrants’ rights and torture warned that airlines and authorities operating the affected flights “may be complicit in violations of internationally protected human rights.”

Care4Calais chief executive Steve Smith said the plan was “impractical”, “cruel” and “will fail to end Channel crossings”. The government should “focus instead on the vital task of processing asylum applications fairly and quickly,” Enver Solomon of the Refugee Council also responded.

Having reached a record high of 45,000 in 2022 before falling to almost 30,000 in 2023, the number of people illegally crossing the English Channel in homemade canoes has increased by more than 20% since the start of the year compared to last year.