Overview

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial Rwanda bill, which proposes to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, passed a key vote in the House of Commons with a majority of 43, despite opposition from hard-right factions within his own Conservative Party.
• Approximately three dozen Conservative lawmakers abstained from the vote, but the party's 56-seat majority ensured the bill's passage. However, the bill now faces potential stumbling blocks in the House of Lords, where it is likely to receive a hostile reception.
• Right-wing lawmakers who allowed the bill to pass have vowed to demand amendments to make the bill even more stringent when it faces another vote in the House of Commons.
• The bill is part of Sunak's strategy to stop the arrival of migrants on small boats across the English Channel, a policy that has become a linchpin of his party's campaign to stay in power.
• The Rwanda bill has been criticized for its potential breach of international obligations and for its impracticality, as it is unlikely that a large number of asylum seekers will ever be deported to Rwanda.