UK MPs vote in favor of controversial bill to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – A majority of British lawmakers on Tuesday backed a controversial bill that would allow the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Following hours-long heated debate, the majority of MPs backed the government's new initiative that came after the UK signed a new deal with Rwanda.

The "Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill", the flagship asylum policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was backed by a vote of 313-269, a majority of 44.

In his first reaction, Sunak said the British people should decide who arrives in the country "not criminal gangs or foreign courts."

"That’s what this Bill delivers. We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats," he wrote on X.

The controversial bill that was submitted to parliament last week, aims to address the concerns of the UK Supreme Court, which ruled that the government's original plan to send asylum seekers to the East African country was unlawful.

The bill compels judges to regard Rwanda as a safe country and gives ministers the power to disregard parts of the Human Rights Act.

Early Tuesday, Sunak reportedly hosted a breakfast in Downing Street with some Conservative MPs in a bid to convince them to support his Rwanda bill.

Separately, just before the vote, the chair of the European Research group issued a statement saying that five right-wing Tory factions would not support the bill and the majority of them would abstain from the vote.

The Rwanda plan had been one of the most controversial planks of the government's migration policy, as it sparked international criticism and mass protests across the UK.

Tackling small boat crossings by irregular migrants across the British Channel is among five priorities of the government, as more than 45,000 migrants arrived in the UK that way last year.