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Added on the 12/12/2023 20:41:56 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government wins the backing of the elected House of Commons for his controversial plan to send migrants to Rwanda. The government fended off right-wing Conservative rebels to win the final vote on the legislation in the parliament's lower chamber by 320 votes to 276. SOUNDBITE
Britain is to send migrants and asylum-seekers who cross the Channel thousands of miles away to Rwanda, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces, as the government tries to clamp down on record numbers of people making the perilous journey. SOUNDBITE
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells the House of Commons he has "absolute conviction" in his government's plan to send migrants to Rwanda ahead of a vote in parliament on the bill which has exposed schisms in his ruling Conservative party. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, if passed, will compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country and proposes giving UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation. SOUNDBITE
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will not allow the European Court of Human Rights to block the government's planned policy of deporting migrants to Rwanda. Speaking after the UK Supreme Court ruled the policy unlawful, he says he will introduce "emergency legislation" to designate Rwanda a safe country. "If the (European Court of Human Rights) chooses to intervene against the express wishes of parliament, I am prepared to do what is necessary to get the flights off" he says. SOUNDBITE
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the UK and Rwanda are eyeing a new deal on asylum seekers, after Britain's highest court ruled that removing migrants to the African country was unlawful. "If it becomes clear that our domestic legal frameworks or international conventions are still frustrating plans at that point, I am prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships," he tells lawmakers during the weekly prime minister's questions in parliament. SOUNDBITE