Parliamentary Ping-Pong Delays Rwanda Asylum Bill Further

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts a press conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room after Britain and Rwanda sign a new treaty to transfer illegal immigrants to the African country, in central London, on Dec. 7, 2023. (James Manning/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Government plans to pass the Rwanda Safety Bill have dealt a blow in the ongoing parliamentary stand-off over the legislation that seeks to send some asylum seekers to the East African country.

The bill was meant to clear its final stages on Wednesday but will now be returned for a vote by MPs on Monday. The latest development comes after peers insisted on revisions to the legislation at the beginning of this week, despite MPs having overturned previous changes by the upper chamber.

The House of Lords wants confirmation from an independent monitoring body that Rwanda is a safe country and that protections in the treaty with the African nation are implemented.

Provisions demanded by the peers mean that the Secretary of State could terminate the scheme if required safeguards are not executed. The Lords also supported the amendment that would exempt Afghans who have worked alongside the UK armed forces or for the UK.

The back and forth at Westminster means the government’s plan to kick off the deportation scheme this spring will be on hold until the deadlock is resolved.

Commenting on the votes cast by the peers, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Once again, Labour Lords have voted against our plan to stop the boats. Keir and co are terrified Rwanda will work, and they’ll use any excuse to stop it. Over 100 votes, they’re constantly against the British people’s right to control immigration.”

Safety Concerns

In turn, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the Tory MPs’ vote against exempting those who worked with the UK military “shameful and shambolic.”

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“A scheme which costs £2 million per asylum seeker. A £500 million+ scheme for less than one percent of asylum seekers. Which now includes those who worked with our troops,” she said on social media platform X.

The government has long insisted that Rwanda is generally a safe country that respects the rule of law, where the rights of those in need of international protection and refugees are protected.

Despite the assurances from Downing Street, the plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda, including those who crossed the English Channel in small boats, has faced multiple legal hurdles over safety concerns.

Changes to the bill, previously backed by peers, would allow individuals to legally challenge their removal if they felt they’d been wrongly labelled an adult.

Under proposed amendments, courts would be allowed to consider the safety of Rwanda, while the relocation of modern slavery and human trafficking victims could be prevented.

Flights

According to the Home Office, the sooner the bill gets cleared by the parliament, the quicker the flights to Rwanda can take off, and the quicker the small boat crossings can be stopped.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on Thursday that the government will do whatever they need to do to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda.

“We will do whatever we need to do to make sure that we can get these flights off, whether they are charter flights or other kinds of flights,” he said.

The statement comes amid concerns that the government is struggling to find an airline to charter the flights. Deployment of Royal Air Forces planes remains a possibility, as Mr. Shapps suggested deciding which aircraft is used was a “secondary issue.”

Labour said the government’s choice not to press parliament as hard as it could have was led by its inability to find an airline to carry the flights.

Labour immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the government was scrambling “high and low” for a carrier to be linked to the “unworkable, unaffordable and unlawful” Rwanda scheme.

PA Media contributed to this report.