A bill to deport migrants to Rwanda has been passed in parliament

Posted by: 12/12/2023 – 22:31

4 minutes

A Farewell to Rishi Sunak. The British government’s controversial bill to deport migrants to Rwanda who came to the UK illegally passed the first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday evening, December 12, much to the Prime Minister’s relief.

“We will work now”, so that this text “enters the law, so that we can land the planes and stop the boats to Rwanda,” the head of the conservative government of migrants crossing the channel responded on the social network (ex- Twitter).

After nearly seven hours of debate, the bill received 313 votes in favor and 269 against.

“There are still many obstacles”

But the road to Parliament is still long. Ahead of the vote, hard Brexiters from the influential European Research Group (ERG), led by MP Marc Francois, indicated they would not support a text they consider too moderate at this stage. They hinted that they would try to make amends by giving a nomination in January to continue the saga.

According to Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, it was “a retirement rather than a victory for Rishi Sunak”. “There are still a lot of obstacles” and “there is no guarantee that they will be overcome,” he told AFP.

Four years after the Conservatives’ victory under Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak finds himself at the head of a split majority challenged by the right wing of his party.

In a sign that immigration is dominating debates in many European countries, the vote in London came a day after the French government’s heavy political defeat on the issue, when the national assembly rejected a bill aimed at limiting flows and improving integration. .

Text “In accordance with the provisions of the Refugee Convention”.

The British text aims to respond to objections from the Supreme Court, which blocked an earlier version of the plan last month. The NGO Human Rights Watch saw the approval as “a defeat for human decency and a blow to the rule of law”.

The evacuation of migrants – wherever they come from – to Rwanda was announced in April 2022, but has not been implemented.

“The new agreement I signed with Rwanda and the accompanying bill make a difference,” Home Secretary James smartly announced at the start of the debates, promising the text was “compatible under the Refugee Convention”.

Rishi Sunak, who made the fight against illegal immigration a priority, presented the speech in X, “The toughest law ever adopted against illegal immigration.”

The new text defines Rwanda as a “safe third country” and prevents migrants from returning to their country. It proposes to scrap certain provisions of the British Human Rights Act and limit legal aid.

Prevents legal appeals from succeeding

But the speech was not enough for the right wing of the Conservative Party. Some believe that London should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights conventions, preventing all legal remedies from succeeding.

During Tuesday’s debate, opposition MP Chris Bryant (Labour) ruled that “someone who is not deterred by a dangerous crossing in a dinghy on one of the world’s busiest sea lanes is simply laughable at this feeble absurdity”. And, he added, “Rwanda cannot be made safe by talking.”

Very weak government

Last week, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick resigned after refusing to support a speech that he said did not go “too far”. Under heavy criticism from NGOs, Secretary of State for Climate Graham Stuart returned to London from COP28 in Dubai to take part in the vote.

Rishi Sunak faces a crushing defeat if he rejects the right-wing speech at this early stage, days after the resignation of his immigration minister, Robert Jenrick.

After nearly 14 years in power, the Conservatives are leading the polls over Labour.

In June 2022, the first flight, which was supposed to take a handful of migrants to Kigali, was canceled at the last minute after an injunction from the European Court of Human Rights. 29,700 people arrived in the UK on small boats this year, up from 45,700 in 2022.

With AFP