Just hours after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that deportation flights would start in July, his most recent attempt to transfer some migrants to Rwanda eventually received consent from Parliament early on Tuesday.
Just after midnight, the unelected House of Lords “recognized the primacy” of the elected House of Commons and withdrew the last of its planned modifications, breaking the legislative impasse that had held up the legislation for two months and allowing the bill to become law.
Sunak demanded earlier in the day that the Lords stop obstructing his crucial plan to curb the flow of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. He also promised that both chambers of Parliament would stay in session until it was implemented.
The impasse in Congress was only the most recent obstacle to the plan’s implementation being delayed; it has been continuously halted by a number of court decisions and criticism from human rights groups who claim the idea is unlawful and cruel.
Advocates for migrants have promised to keep up the battle against it.
In London on Monday morning, Sunak addressed reporters, saying, “For almost two years, our opponents have used every trick in the book to block fights and keep the votes coming. “But enough is enough. No more prevarication, no more delay.”
To discourage migrants risking their lives on leaky, inflatable boats in the hopes of obtaining asylum once they reach Britain, the government intends to deport some illegal immigrants to Rwanda.
