British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s latest bid to send migrants arriving illegally to Rwanda has won parliamentary approval, hours after he promised deportation flights would begin in July.
A two-month-long parliamentary deadlock over the bill was finally broken shortly after midnight when the Upper House of the British Parliament approved a motion by the House of Commons and dropped the last of its proposed amendments, clearing the way for the law to take effect, Reuters reports.
Sunak held a rare morning press conference to demand that the House of Lords stop blocking his key proposal to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, vowing to keep both houses of parliament in session until it is approved.
The legislative impasse was just the latest obstacle to delaying implementation of the plan, which has been blocked by a series of court rulings and opposition from human rights activists who say it is illegal and inhumane. Migrant advocates have vowed to continue fighting the law.
“For almost two years, our adversaries have used every trick in the book to prevent fighting and hold ships. But that’s enough. No more deception, no more delay,” Sunak said.
The government plans to deport some of those who enter the UK illegally to Rwanda as a deterrent to migrants risking their lives traveling in boats in the hope of being able to claim asylum when they reach Britain.
