The House of Lords defies Rishi Sunak by voting to delay ratification of the Kigali treaty.
The UK's upper house of parliament has voted to delay Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The unelected House of Lords vote on Monday came despite Sunak urging members to back his plan, which he has characterized as the will of the people.
The upper house voted 214 to 171 to delay ratification of a related treaty London signed with Kigali until the government can demonstrate that Rwanda is a safe country to send asylum seekers to.
The house does not have the power to indefinitely block the so-called Rwanda Security (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, but it could delay the legislation for up to a year.
The move comes after the more powerful House of Commons narrowly approved the bill on Wednesday after some Conservative MPs threatened to vote against the government, claiming the legislation was not strong enough to survive legal challenges.
Sunak has made the controversial immigration plan a key element of his bid to return to power in a general election scheduled for this year in which the centre-left Labor Party has a strong chance of winning.
Sunak introduced the legislation after the UK Supreme Court ruled last year that the safety of asylum seekers deported to Rwanda could not be guaranteed.
The bill would make it harder for courts to challenge Rwanda policy by allowing the government to set aside certain provisions of human rights law and ask the House of Commons to declare by majority vote that the African country is safe. for asylum seekers.
Sunak has said he wants deportations to begin within months to fulfill his promise to “stop the boats” transporting asylum seekers across the English Channel.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson first announced Rwanda's plan in 2022 to deny people arriving by “irregular means” the opportunity to apply for asylum in the UK.
The first flight from the UK to Rwanda was suspended in June of that year after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which ruled that one of the asylum seekers on board was at “real risk.” of suffering irreversible death.” damage” in the East African nation.
