Expulsion of migrants in Rwanda: British MPs pass controversial bill

This is a political victory for Rishi Sunak. British MPs passed a controversial bill to expel migrants to Rwanda on Wednesday evening, marking a success for the prime minister who overcame an attempted rebellion within his majority.

In this second vote in the House of Commons, 320 MPs voted for the text and 276 voted against it, sending it to the House of Lords for adoption or not.

Following resignations from the Conservative Party and heated debate in a parliamentary committee to tighten the text, dissidents lined up around Rishi Sunak, who vowed to stop migrant boats illegally crossing the English Channel.

Never implemented

Announced in April 2022, this flagship project of Boris Johnson has still not been implemented. This new version is intended to respond to objections from the UK Supreme Court, which found the project illegal due to concerns, in particular, for the safety of migrants being sent to Rwanda.

The new treaty between the United Kingdom and Rwanda “directly responds to the findings of the Supreme Court and represents a new long-term solution,” the British Home Office said in a press release in December after the text was signed in Kigali.

The 43-page treaty, “binding” under international law, ensures that migrants expelled to Rwanda “do not risk returning to a country where their lives or freedom would be jeopardized.” The agreement also includes the establishment of “a joint court with Rwandan and British judges in Kigali to ensure the safety of migrants and to ensure that no migrant sent to Rwanda is deported to their home country,” the Rwandan deputy spokesman stressed. government of Alain Mukuralinda, specifying that he “will also definitely listen to all the complaints of migrants.”