British parliament approves controversial Rwanda plan | Abroad

It was not clear whether the law would pass, because Sunak also received a lot of criticism from his own party colleagues. The right wing of the Conservatives believes that the Rwanda deal does not go far enough. Just before the vote, a group of forty party members announced that they would not vote for the law, but that was not enough to send the law back.

The British Supreme Court had previously put a stop to the measures, but the Sunak government still wanted to go ahead with the plans. The British Prime Minister wants to use the law to stop illegal migration across the Channel using small boats. Anyone arriving in the UK in this way would be immediately sent to Rwanda, regardless of their origin. They must then submit their asylum application there. Furthermore, asylum seekers would not be able to appeal because they are explicitly denied their right to British human rights.

The right wing believes the law does not go far enough. They demand that the United Kingdom withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, so that asylum seekers cannot bring legal proceedings in this way.

The Supreme Court ruled that the plan goes against the European human rights treaty, because Rwanda is not a safe country to deport migrants to. Sunak then introduced the emergency legislation now submitted to be able to ignore that decision. Human rights organizations expressed strong criticism of the plans and the opposition Labor party is also against the controversial policy.

The bill now still has to pass the British House of Lords, where parliamentarians will probably try to moderate the plans. The government hopes to put the first migrants on a plane to Rwanda in the spring.