The UK government has experienced five defeats in the House of Lords over its bill to reintroduce its deportation scheme for Rwanda. The legislation would label Rwanda as a safe country to deport asylum seekers to, in an effort to prevent deportations from being derailed by legal challenges. However, peers have approved modifications to allow judges to contest this, and have also demanded that the treaty underpinning the deportations is fully enforced before flights can take off. Further defeats could be inflicted on the bill by opposition peers when it continues through the Lords on Wednesday, but the government is expected to overturn these in the House of Commons later this month.
The bill is a critical component of the government’s plans to “stop” small boats crossing the English Channel, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made a priority. Ministers wish to begin flights to Rwanda this spring. Late last year, ministers announced the draft law after the Supreme Court regarded unlawful the government’s initiative to send an unspecified number of refugees to the east African country. In an effort to resurrect the scheme and prevent legal challenges, the law would say that Rwanda is a secure country, and would limit the courts’ freedom to block deportations based on human rights grounds.
However, critics, including some Conservatives, have stated that the bill would endanger lives while also undermining the courts’ independence. Opposition peers backed an amendment enabling courts to overrule the presumption that Rwanda is safe if they find “credible evidence to the contrary.” They also approved changes that would only deem Rwanda safe when independent officials overseeing the UK’s deportation treaty claim it has been “fully implemented.” A Labour amendment specifying that the bill must uphold “full compliance with domestic and international law” was also supported.
The government’s new treaty signed with Rwanda in December addresses the Supreme Court’s objections, according to the government. Home Office Minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom stated that the treaty, which replaced an earlier agreement, would eliminate the danger of individuals sent to Rwanda being sent on to their home countries, where they may face persecution. The bill’s changes will now go back to the Commons, where the government is expected to overturn them, but if the changes are rejected, a process known as “ping pong,” in which the bill goes between MPs and peers until they agree on the final wording, is expected to occur later this month
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