In a session that lasted until late this night, the British parliament approved a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers who entered Britain illegally to Rwanda, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, returned the bill to the House of Commons several times with amendments before agreeing not to make any further changes to the text, which guarantees its entry into force.
Some Labor and independent MPs demanded that the bill include guarantees for Afghans who previously helped British troops in Afghanistan, and that a commission be established to monitor the safety of asylum seekers when they arrive in Rwanda. Ultimately, the House of Lords allowed the bill to pass its final reading in parliament without any significant changes, Reuters noted.
The bill is expected to receive the assent of Britain's King Charles III later this week and then become law.
Before the bill was passed, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the first plane carrying asylum seekers would leave Britain for Rwanda in 10 to 12 weeks, Reuters noted.
He told reporters at “Downing Street“ 10 Sunak said he would not reveal operational details of the plan, but noted that the government had already made detailed preparations.
“I can confirm that we have the airport ready, we have booked passenger charter flights and we have 500 highly trained officers ready to escort illegal migrants to Rwanda, with another 300 to be trained in the coming weeks“, the British prime minister added.“We are ready. The plans are in place. And those flights will go ahead, come what may“, he said.“