UK passes Rishi Sunak's ambitious Rwanda migrant bill after facing 2 years of challenges

The UK Parliament has passed the contentious bill allowing the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for their claims to be considered by the East African nation reported CNNUK Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks efforts to pass the bill had been stuck between opposition in the Houses of Parliament and challenges in the British courts as lawmakers and activists have sought to scupper the legislation on human rights groundsMoreover Sunaks inability to implement the policy has caused considerable embarrassment as the British government has sent millions of pounds to Rwanda to fund a scheme that has failed to deliver any results to date CNN reportedIt has been designed to prevent irregular migration into the UK particularly people travelling on illegal and dangerous small boats from France arranged by criminal gangsMeanwhile in theory the legislation will see some landing in the UK sent to Rwanda where their asylum claim will be considered If their claim is accepted they will stay in Rwanda If it is declined the bill says they cannot be deported by Rwanda to anywhere other than the UK though it is unclear what would ultimately happen in this scenarioThe scheme was first conceived in 2022 when Sunak who became prime minister then made it the mission of his government to put a stop to these arrivals by following through on a Conservative pledge to stop the boatsTwo years after the scheme was first conceived the absence of any deportations so far has been considered a major failure for Sunak CNN reportedLast year the Supreme Court of the UK ruled that the policy is unlawful because there are substantial grounds for believing that asylum seekers would face a real risk of illtreatment by reason of refoulement to their country of origin if they were removed to RwandaRefoulement is the practice where asylum seekers or refugees are forcibly returned to a place where they would face persecution or danger against important principles of international human rights lawThe judges noted that as recently as 2021 the UK government criticized Rwanda for extrajudicial killings deaths in custody enforced disappearances and tortureThe government responded by introducing the Safety of Rwanda Asylum and Immigration Bill in January of this year which effectively enshrines in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country overriding the judges concernsHome Secretary James Cleverly in a video posted on X on Monday said that the Safety of Rwanda Bill has passed in Parliament and it will become law within daysHe added that the act would prevent people from abusing the law by using false human rights claims to block removals And it makes clear that the UK Parliament is sovereign giving the government the power to reject interim blocking measures imposed by European courts reported CNNHowever even with the bill passed the government might face legal challenges in the European Court of Human Rights as the UK is still a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights The European court has previously barred it from sending asylum seekers to RwandaThe bill has suffered long delays because of attempts to amend itA process colloquially known as ping pong where the two parts of the UKs parliament the House of Commons and the House of Lords send legislation back and forth has been going on for monthsEvery time the House of Lords makes amendments to the bill the House of Commons where Sunak has a majority must vote to remove them according to CNNIn 2022 the number of people arriving by small boats was 45744 according to the Migration Observatory at the University of OxfordMoreover net migration in the same year was 745000 according to government figuresThis is a problem for Sunak and his governing Conservative Party as they are set to face the public in a general election that must be called before the end of this yearParties on the right most notably Reform UK the new political home of archBrexiteer Nigel Farage will push the issue of illegal migration as hard as possibleNotably the opposition Labour party has already promised to scrap the Rwanda plans if it comes to power at the next general election which must be held by January next year but is widely expected to take place later this year Al Jazeera reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever