British MPs approve bill to deport migrants to Rwanda

British MPs voted on Tuesday evening, December 12, in favor of a controversial bill on the expulsion of illegal migrants to Rwanda, with whom the United Kingdom has signed a treaty. After approximately seven hours of debate, the text was approved by 313 votes for and 269 against in the House of Commons. But the parliamentary road is still long for this controversial text, and conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is far from having won the game.

Four years after the triumph of the Conservatives under Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak finds himself at the head of a divided majority, challenged by the right wing of his party. This text is in fact not sufficient for the right wing of the conservative party. Some believe that London should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights conventions, to prevent all legal remedies from succeeding.

The new text defines Rwanda as a safe third country and prevents the return of illegal migrants to their country of origin. It also proposes not to apply certain provisions of British human rights law to evictions, to limit legal recourse. “The idea that someone who is not deterred by a dangerous dinghy crossing in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes would be deterred by this flimsy nonsense is simply laughable,” reacted Labor opposition MP Chris Bryant about this bill.