Sunak's Rwanda plan threatens defeat - hardliners demand tightening up
Limiting migration is one of the Tories' key election promises. A deportation plan to Rwanda fails in court and the number of migrants remains high. The government wants to respond with a new law, but threatens to suffer another defeat in a vote.
The British House of Commons has been debating a highly controversial migration agreement within the Conservative governing party, which provides for the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, since midday this afternoon. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing defeat in the vote expected this evening, as the bill does not go far enough for some Tory MPs.
In order to avert defeat, the British government even recalled the head of its delegation to the World Climate Conference. Climate Secretary Graham Stuart left COP28 in Dubai to take part in the vote on the draft bill on the Rwanda asylum pact, the British news agency PA reported, citing the seat of government at 10 Downing Street. However, Stuart will then return to the climate conference, according to the report.
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.
Court: Rwanda not a safe third country
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 of "one of the toughest texts ever tabled in Parliament against illegal migration".
Brexiteers do not think the draft goes far enough
The previous day, various groups within the feuding Tories had discussed the bill. The moderate "One Nation" group of MPs announced that it 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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Rishi Sunak's government is facing potential defeat in the British House of Commons as MPs debate a contentious migration agreement involving the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. The new bill, aiming to classify Rwanda as a safe third country, has been criticized by hardliners as not going far enough to address illegal migration. Previously, the UK Supreme Court declared an earlier version of the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda illegal due to concerns about international obligations and safety concerns.
Source: www.ntv.de
