- By Nick Ardley, Political Correspondent, James Gregory
- BBC News
Parliament will resume voting on the government’s controversial Rwanda bill on Monday when MPs return to the House of Commons.
This follows reports suggesting the UK has held talks with other countries, including Armenia, about replicating the plan.
Plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda have faced setbacks since they were first announced in April 2022.
But a bill declaring Rwanda safe is likely to be passed this week, with the government’s majority overturning the country’s amendments.
As The Times reported, internal government documents show that Costa Rica, Ivory Coast and Armenia are also being considered as options for a similar plan if Rwanda is successful.
The BBC has seen some of the documents and understands that the list is accurate.
Other African countries, including Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia and Gambia, “explicitly refused” to participate in the technical consultations, the newspaper said.
A government spokesperson said the UK “continues to work with a range of international partners to tackle the global problem of illegal immigration”, but the focus now is on passing the Rwanda Bill and bringing flights into service as soon as possible. He said that the key is to come up with a plan to
Labor believes the plan is flawed and intends to scrap it if it wins a general election expected later this year.
Sir Keir Starmer said he would instead focus on targeting criminal organizations and negotiating a new security deal with Europe.
The government aims to remove the amendments made by the House of Lords and send the bill back to the Commons with additional clauses, including the need for the House of Lords to ensure “due regard” to domestic and international law.
Other proposed changes include exemptions from deportation for victims of modern slavery and people who supported British forces overseas.
In response, the Government will instead ensure that the operation of the Act and the provisions of the Treaty with Rwanda are implemented to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to respond to the needs of victims of modern slavery. Commit to publishing an annual report on relevance.
Labor peer Baroness Chakrabarti said the Rhodes amendment was aimed at improving the bill and did not attack “the core of the policy”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that her amendment would restore “the jurisdiction of national courts that have been disenfranchised by this bill”.
But Conservative MP Sir John Hayes said legal appeals had been used to block deportations and “frustrate” parliamentary will and government policy.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said flights to Rwanda will be in operation by spring, but he has not given a specific date.
Ministers believe the bill will pave the way for the first transfers within weeks.
The Rwanda Safety Bill, which declares Rwanda safe, was introduced in parliament after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government’s plan was illegal.
In its ruling, the court said genuine refugees who are being deported are at risk of being returned to their home countries, where they could be harmed.
The Rwanda scheme was originally introduced by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022 with the aim of acting as a deterrent against people crossing the English Channel into the UK in small boats.
It has faced a number of legal issues since then, and so far no one has been sent to the East African country under the scheme.
The bill aims to protect the plan from further legal setbacks.
