LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's latest try to send some migrants to Rwanda finally received parliamentary approval early Tuesday, just hours after he promised deportation flights would begin in July.
The parliamentary deadlock that had held up laws for 2 months was finally broken just after midnight when the unelected upper house “recognized the primacy” of the elected lower house and dropped the last of its proposed amendments, clearing the way in which for the bill became law.
Earlier within the day, Sunak held a rare morning press conference to demand that the Lords stop blocking his key proposal to finish the flood of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, promising that each houses of Parliament would remain in session until passed.
The legislative deadlock was just the newest obstacle in delaying implementation of a plan that has been repeatedly blocked by a series of court rulings and opposition from human rights activists who consider it illegal and inhumane. Migrant advocates have vowed to proceed the fight against it.
“For almost two years, our opponents have used every trick imaginable to prevent clashes and maintain the vote count,” Sunak told reporters in London on Monday morning. “But enough is enough. No more excuses, no more delay.”
The government plans to deport a few of those entering the UK illegally to Rwanda to discourage migrants who risk their lives in leaky inflatable boats within the hope that they’ll claim asylum after arriving in Britain.
Despite Parliament's approval of the law, further legal challenges could still delay deportation flights, said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily home and dry,” he said. “We will see some attempts to legally block deportations.”
Sunak has staked his political future on the deportation flights and made the promise to “stop the boats” a key a part of his voter appeal as opinion polls show his Conservative Party trailing Labor far ahead of a general election later this 12 months. The local elections next week are seen as a barometer for the way the parties will perform within the federal election.
The debate in Britain comes as countries across Western Europe and North America look for methods to slow rising numbers of migrants as war, climate change and political repression drive people from their homes.
Small boat crossings are a pressing political issue in Britain as they’re seen as evidence of the federal government's failure to manage immigration.
The variety of migrants arriving in Britain on small boats rose from just 299 4 years ago to 45,774 in 2022 as those in search of refuge pay criminal gangs 1000’s of kilos to ferry them across the Channel.
Last 12 months, small boat arrivals fell to 29,437 as the federal government cracked down on people smugglers and reached an agreement to repatriate Albanians to their homeland.
“I think the key takeaway is how desperate the government clearly is to get this bill passed on the grounds that it would allow them to at least make a down payment on their promise to stop the boats,” Bale said.
While Sunak acknowledged he would miss his original deadline to get the primary deportation flights within the air this spring, he blamed the delays on continued opposition from the opposition Labor Party.
On Monday, Sunak said the primary flights would take off in 10 to 12 weeks, but declined to present details of how many individuals could be deported or exactly when the flights would happen, saying that information could help opponents to proceed attempting to thwart the policy.
In preparation for the bill's passage, the federal government has already chartered planes for the deportation flights, increased detention space, hired more immigration officers and freed up court space to handle appeals, Sunak said.
He also identified that the federal government was prepared to disregard the European Court of Human Rights if it desired to block the deportations.
“We are ready, the plans are in place and these flights will operate under all circumstances,” Sunak said. “No foreign court will stop us from canceling flights.”
The current laws, referred to as the Safety of Rwanda Bill, is a response to a UK Supreme Court decision that blocked deportation flights because the federal government couldn’t guarantee the protection of migrants sent to Rwanda. After signing a brand new take care of Rwanda to strengthen protections for migrants, the federal government proposed a brand new law declaring Rwanda a secure country.
As a result, the Rwanda Bill bounced forwards and backwards between the 2 houses of Parliament, with the Lords repeatedly proposing amendments but these were rejected by the Commons, which then sent the laws back to the Upper House.
Critics of presidency policy weren’t persuaded by its next step. James Wilson, the director of Detention Action, which campaigns against human rights abuses within the immigration system, urged the general public to look beyond the political stalemate and remember what’s at stake.
“Ultimately, the most important points here are not the specifics of Parliament and the things that happen there,” he told The Associated Press. “Ultimately, this is about people. This is about people’s lives.”
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