UK PM vows first migrant flights to leave for Rwanda within weeks as parliament passes controversial bill

The United Kingdom’s first deportation flights could leave for Rwanda in 10-12 weeks, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday (22 April), only hours before the controversial government bill finally secured the approval of the upper house of parliament.
The Rwanda deportation scheme, criticized by human rights experts and groups supporting asylum seekers, had faced legal challenges ever since it was first proposed as a way to stem the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel illegally in leaky inflatable boats. The controversial bill has been stalled for two months during a marathon tussle between the two houses of Parliament, with the Lords repeatedly proposing amendments that were then rejected by the Commons. Then the law cleared its final hurdle early Tuesday (23 April), when the House of Lords agreed not to make any further changes and approved the new legislation.
“Enough is enough,” Sunak said only hours before the crucial vote in a bid to add more pressure on the legislators. “We are ready, plans are in place and these flights will go, come what may. No foreign court will stop us from getting flights off,” the British PM told reporters, as he pledged to end the Parliamentary deadlock over a key policy promise to “stop the boats” before an election due to be held later this year. More than 120,000 people – many fleeing wars and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia – have reached the UK since 2018. But critics have criticized the plan as inhumane, saying the government should handle asylum seekers at home is inhumane. Other European countries, including Austria and Germany, are also looking at similar deals to process asylum seekers in third countries.