RICHARD POHLE / AFP
Rwanda: The Lords seriously snub Rishi Sunak and his controversial project (Photo of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak)
RWANDA – Britain's Lords voiced their disapproval on Monday night over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, refusing to ratify the treaty signed with Kigali, whose future law must be supported.
A majority of MPs sitting in the upper house of Parliament have called on the government to postpone the ratification of this treaty until it has been effectively demonstrated that Rwanda is a safe receiving country for the migrants being expelled there.
214 Lords followed the recommendation of a cross-party committee which found in a report published last week that the guarantees provided for in the treaty were “incomplete”, while 171 of them rejected the motion.
A project that is considered “illegal”.
On the basis of this treaty, the Conservative government's bill was drafted, which forms the basis of the government's policy to combat illegal immigration.
The text signed with Kigali in December is actually intended to respond to the concerns of the British Supreme Court, which declared the project illegal in its previous version because it feared that asylum seekers would then be transferred to other countries where they would be in danger.
This is one of the Conservative government's last cards to save this iconic project, which has been repeatedly rejected by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson since it was announced in 2022.
New difficulties are coming
The lower house, where elected MPs sit, passed it with a comfortable majority last week, after a hectic review by the right-wing Conservative party, which wanted to toughen the text, and the resignation of several of its leaders.
Rishi Sunak called on the Lords to adopt this project, which has been sharply criticized by humanitarian associations, as quickly as possible and which he would like to implement before the general elections planned for the end of 2024.
Unlike elected members of the House of Commons, the Lords do not have the power to block ratification of a treaty. But the vote on this motion, to which the government must respond, points to new difficulties for this controversial bill.
The text, which defines Rwanda as a safe third country and prevents migrants from returning to their countries of origin, is due to be debated in the upper house of the British Parliament next week.
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