UK lawmakers vote in favour of Rwanda asylum plan
World
Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted by 313 to 269 in favour of the bill
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's contentious emergency legislation to allow asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda passed its first parliamentary hurdle.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted by 313 to 269 in favour of the bill, which was designed to address concerns raised by the UK Supreme Court which last month declared the policy to be unlawful.
The UK Supreme Court ruled last month that Rwanda was an unsafe place to send those arriving in small boats on England's southern coast, and that the policy would breach British and international law.
In response, Sunak had agreed a new treaty with the east African country and brought forward emergency legislation to override domestic and international human rights law.
The move had deeply divided his party, alienating both moderates, who are worried about Britain breaching its human rights obligations, and right-wing politicians, who contend it does not go far enough.
Governments around the world are grappling with rising migration levels, and some are following the British plan to see if it will work. French lawmakers rejected their immigration bill last night, in a blow to President Emmanuel Macron.
