Detentions of migrants will start if the parliament approves the UK-Rwanda deal

With parliament having approved the contentious plan that infuriated the UN and human rights organizations, the UK prepared on Tuesday to begin holding migrants for eventual deportation to Rwanda within days.

After a protracted, late-night parliamentary battle on Monday, the new legislation—a centerpiece of the Conservative government’s strategy to reduce irregular cross-Channel migration from northern France—passed its last barrier.

Shortly after, French authorities reported that at least five migrants—including a child—had perished over night while trying to traverse the heavily used maritime channel in a small boat.

Undocumented asylum seekers landing in Britain would be sent to Rwanda under the UK proposal, where their claims would be reviewed and, if granted, they would be allowed to remain in Rwanda.

Deportations are anticipated to start in 10 to 12 weeks, according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The migrants who have been selected for the first flight are scheduled to be apprehended and detained as early as this week.

Rwanda expressed its satisfaction with the bill’s passing and expressed eagerness to “welcome those who have been relocated to Rwanda.”

However, the leaders of the UN’s refugee and human rights agencies issued a warning, stating that it “set a perilous precedent globally” and undermined the rule of law.

They urged the UK to instead “take practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law”.

The Council of Europe also called for the new law to be scrapped and said it raised “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally”.

‘Deterrent’ 

Sunak said the “landmark legislation” would deter record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel from northern France, and disrupt people-smuggling gangs behind them.

“The passing of this legislation will allow us to do that and make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay,” he added.

“Our focus is to now get flights off the ground, and I am clear that nothing will stand in our way of doing that and saving lives.”

The legislation, which will compel judges to regard the east African nation as a safe third country, now goes to head of state King Charles III for royal assent. He has reportedly criticised the plan as “appalling”.

It also gives decision-makers on asylum applications the power to disregard sections of international and domestic human rights law to get around a UK Supreme Court ruling that said sending migrants on a one-way ticket to Kigali was illegal.

But the government faced a parliamentary battle to do so, with the upper chamber House of Lords, which scrutinises bills, repeatedly sending the proposed legislation back to the lower House of Commons with amendments.

Peers, who had criticised the bill as inadequate, notably wanted a requirement that Rwanda could not be treated as safe until an independent monitoring body said so.

MPs in the elected Commons, where the Tories have a majority, voted down every amendment and asked the Lords to think again in a back-and-forth process known as “parliamentary ping pong”.

The unelected upper chamber, where there is no overall majority for any party, dug in their heels but eventually agreed to make no further amendments, allowing the bill to pass.

Costly 

Sunak’s government, facing what opinion polls say will be a defeat at a general election later this year, has been under mounting pressure to cut record “small boat” arrivals, particularly after a promise of a tougher approach to immigration after the UK left the European Union.

The Rwanda scheme was first proposed in 2022, but has been beset by legal challenges ever since and two years on, no migrants have been deported.

The National Audit Office, a public spending watchdog, has estimated it will cost the UK £540 million ($665 million) to deport the first 300 migrants — nearly £2 million per person.

Charities have said the scheme is unworkable and, given the small numbers involved, would do little to cut the backlog of asylum claims.

Rwanda — a tiny nation of 13 million people — lays claim to being one of the most stable countries in Africa. But rights groups accuse veteran President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.

Sunak’s plans could still be held up by legal challenges, while UN rights experts have suggested that airlines and aviation regulators could fall foul of internationally protected human rights laws if they take part in deportations.

AFP