Rishi Sunak successfully passes Rwanda bill in Parliament: Everything you should know

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill
Britain’s parliament has passed a law allowing for the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda while they await a decision on their application. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed determination to move forward with deportation flights to Rwanda after the migration legislation was passed, despite facing opposition within his Conservative Party. Sunak hailed the passing of the legislation as a significant milestone, asserting that it represents a fundamental shift in the global approach to migration. The deportation proposal has faced controversy and legal issues since it was introduced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022.

Despite this, no migrants have been sent to Rwanda thus far. The UK Supreme Court ruled the policy unlawful last November. Sunak aims for the new legislation to address legal concerns and fulfill his promise to prevent people from arriving in the UK via small boats. Rwanda, a nation with a population of 13 million, is claimed to be one of the most politically stable countries in Africa.

However, rights groups have accused President Paul Kagame of creating an atmosphere of fear and suppressing dissent and free speech. Although Britain has not executed any deportations yet, they have already paid Rwanda 240 million pounds. The current capacity of Rwanda to accommodate migrants is limited, as they are only able to take in a few hundred at the moment. According to the plan, individuals who arrived in the UK illegally after January 1, 2022, could face deportation to Rwanda.

However, the first deportation flight in June 2022 was blocked by European judges. Subsequently, the UK Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the scheme was unlawful, citing the risk of migrants being sent back to their home countries or other places where they would be at risk of mistreatment. Legal experts speculate that, as the bill stands, Britain could still be subject to the findings of the European Court of Human Rights, which could issue injunctions to prevent deportation flights. In recent years, tens of thousands of migrants, many fleeing from conflicts and poverty in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, have made their way to Britain by undertaking perilous journeys across the English Channel in small boats organized by human-smuggling networks.

Sunak, upon assuming office as prime minister in October last year, prioritized the commitment to “stop the boats.” At the beginning of this year, he claimed to have fulfilled a pledge to address a “legacy backlog” of 92,000 asylum claims made before a June 2022 change in immigration law, although approximately 100,000 applications remain to be processed.