Rwanda deportations: British House of Commons votes on controversial migration agreement
The prime minister, who has been in office for around a year, is under strong domestic political pressure to limit immigration. With the vote, he risks losing his authority just a few months before the general election. Both the opposition and the right wing of his party have attacked him fiercely.
The text to be voted on is a reaction to the decision of the UK Supreme Court, which in November declared an earlier version of the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda illegal.
The court had not classified Rwanda as a safe third country and deemed the plan to be incompatible with the UK's international obligations. The court stated that it could not be ruled out that Rwanda could deport people to regions where they would be at risk of persecution.
Immediately after the court ruling, the government in London announced its intention to conclude a new agreement with Rwanda. This was signed last week by Home Secretary James Cleverly in Kigali.
The new text defines Rwanda as a safe third country and prevents the return of migrants from Rwanda to their country of origin. It also provides for parts of the British Human Rights Act not to be applied to deportations in order to restrict the legal process for migrants.
Michael Tomlinson, the minister responsible for immigration, spoke on Sky News on Tuesday of "one of the toughest texts ever tabled in Parliament against illegal migration".
The previous day, various groups within the divided Tories had discussed the bill. The moderate "One Nation" group of MPs announced that they would vote in favor of the text. The radical Brexit supporters of the European Research Group, on the other hand, stated that the draft only offered a "partial and incomplete solution" to prevent legal proceedings and required "very important changes".
Some Conservatives also believe that the UK should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights treaties. Should the right wing of the Conservatives reject the bill, this would be a major defeat for Prime Minister Sunak.
The controversial project with Rwanda was agreed in April 2022 under the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but has not yet been implemented. For example, a flight with migrants to the East African country planned for June 2022 was canceled at short notice following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.
The British government has made tackling illegal migration a priority. The deportation of illegal refugees to Rwanda is seen as one of the most important means of doing so.
London is under pressure from a record number of migrants arriving across the English Channel. This year, around 29,700 people came to the UK this way. Last year, the figure was just under 46,000.
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Source: www.stern.de
