A plan to send individuals seeking asylum in the United Kingdom to Rwanda has passed a lower house vote in the British Parliament securing a significant win for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak whose cabinet proposed the idea. 

The vote was held on Wednesday where lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament voted 320 to 376 to back the immigration strategy currently being legislated. British courts have previously ruled the arrangement as inconsistent with immigration laws and international procedure, rulings largely based on that the prime minister’s office has failed to establish that Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers and where they will not be deported back to their home countries where they face violence. 

The lower house’s endorsement of the legislation not only supports the declaration of Rwanda as a safe country for asylum seekers but also grants authority to the British government to transport them via flights to the East African nation.

Under the proposed Rwanda scheme, asylum seekers arriving on the British coast in refugee boats would be sent to Rwanda to process their claims. The policy also however will keep the seekers in Rwanda even after their asylum status has been granted. This programme has been controversial, facing criticism from human rights groups and refugee charities, having been deemed unlawful by Britain’s Supreme Court in the previous year.

It is the latest legislative effort to address concerns raised by the Supreme Court, attempting to establish a legal framework for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda without violating international law. The Supreme Court’s previous ruling emphasised the illegality of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda due to the inherent risk of their eventual return to countries where their safety could be compromised. 

Despite these efforts, critics continue to express ongoing apprehensions, fearing that the potential breach of international legal standards by the Rwanda policy remains.