Lawmakers in Britain voted Tuesday to support a bill that would send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda.
The government’s plan passed 313-269 in the House of Commons. The policy has “angered human rights groups and cost the U.K. at least $300 million, without a single flight getting off the ground,” according to The Associated Press.
The result gives Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has seen his authority challenged as of late, some stability, The Associated Press reported.
However, some lawmakers don’t think the legislation goes far enough, and centrists fear it breaks international law, according to the Guardian. More than two dozen lawmakers abstained from voting.
What the bill would do
Asylum-seekers cross the English Channel from France in small inflatable boats to reach Britain.
It’s a dangerous trip, and Sunak’s government is trying to crack down on illegal immigration routes, USA Today reported. Those caught would be sent on flights to Rwanda in Africa, where they would stay permanently.
Opposition from lawmakers from many political leanings is just one challenge the bill faces in being finalized.
The bill seeks to overcome a ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that the plan is illegal, according to The Associated Press.
Most of the migrants who cross the channel are from Middle East nations like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan or poorer European countries like Albania, according to USA Today.
More than 29,000 people have crossed in 2023, down from 46,000 in all of 2022.
Reaction: Human Rights Watch UK director Yasmine Ahmed called the result “a defeat for human decency and a hammer blow for the rule of law,” France 24 reported.
Meanwhile, MP Mark Francois said he supports the idea but said the bill needs to be amended.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, a Rwandan opposition politician, said the bill doesn’t fit well with Rwanda, a country that struggles to care for its own people, according to USA Today.