- The government of Rishi Sunak is getting ready to begin deportation flights to Rwanda by July.
- The bill was submitted last year to get around a ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that prohibited deportations.
- The hopes held by Downing Street that launching the Rwanda program would relieve Sunak of pressure.
In response to the UK prime minister‘s landmark bill designating Rwanda as a “safe” destination for asylum seekers, the government of Rishi Sunak is getting ready to begin deportation flights to Rwanda by July.
The bill was submitted last year to get around a ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that prohibited deportations due to human rights concerns. It was approved after the Lords abandoned their proposal to add more steps that needed to be taken before Rwanda could be considered “safe.”
Rwanda deportation bill
Peers also took the government at its word those individuals who had backed the British troops overseas, including in Afghanistan, would be granted exemptions. Sunak stated that the first flights would occur in ten to twelve weeks, although he acknowledged that he would not be able to fulfill his long-standing promise to launch them by the spring.
The strategy, according to Sunak’s advisors, might turn the electoral tide because it demonstrates that he is keeping his word to “stop the boats” carrying migrants across the English Channel.
The government needs to move quickly since, in the first three months of this year, the number of migrants arriving in the United Kingdom by boat set a record, undermining Sunak’s pledge.
Assisting the Tories in their efforts to reclaim votes from the more conservative insurgent party and reduce the opposition Labour Party’s 20-point advantage in national polls, advisers view the deportations as a means of regaining ground against the Reform U.K. party, which was created by former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage. In the “second half” of the year, at the latest, Sunak anticipates making the election call.
The hopes held by Downing Street that launching the Rwanda program would relieve Sunak of pressure and influence the polls are clouded in doubt.
