Rwanda Bill: Defiant Lords back Afghan heroes and refuse to pass Sunak’s plan to deport asylum seekers

Defiant Lords have refused to cave to ministers and sent Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda Bill back to the Commons – with two key demands.

Peers voted on Wednesday night in favour of an amendment to the Safety of Rwanda Bill that would exempt Afghan heroes who supported UK troops overseas from being deported.

They also insisted on a monitoring committee to assess whether Rwanda is safe before the government sends any asylum seekers there.

MPs have refused to make concessions to their plan to deport asylum seekers to the east-African country, with Downing Street insisting the Bill is “the right way forward”.

But members of the House of Lords refused to back down, meaning that the Bill will return to the Commons again – most likely on Monday. MPs will then be likely to vote down the changes again, forcing it back to the Lords once more.

Peers voted 245 in favour and 208 against an amendment to make an independent monitoring panel verify that certain measures are in place before Rwanda is declared to be a safe country.

They also voted in favour 247 and 195 against, a majority of 52, for the Afghan amendment.

The Independent has documented a number of cases of asylum seekers who supported the UK armed forces efforts in Afghanistan and who have since been threatened with removal to Rwanda after arriving in the UK via small boat.

Together with Lighthouse Reports and Sky News, this publication reported on the plight of members of two Afghan special forces units, known as the Triples, who have been wrongly denied help by the Ministry of Defence. A number of these soldiers have made their way to the UK via small boats because they felt there were no safe or legal routes open to them.

A few hundred of these soldiers are also stranded in Pakistan, waiting on the outcome of a Ministry of Defence review into whether they were wrongly refused relocation to the UK.

Senior Tory MP Sir Robert Buckland told the Commons on Wednesday to support the Lords’ plan to help these Afghans, saying: “I do think that there is still a class of people who have served this country, who have been brave and have exposed themselves to danger who have not yet been dealt with.

“Many of them are in Pakistan, and I think that it would have been helpful to have perhaps seen an amendment in lieu to deal with that point.”

Lord Des Browne brought an amendment to the government’s Rwanda Bill that would protect allies of the British armed forces from deportation (PA)

The amendment to the Rwanda Bill, brought by former defence secretary Lord Browne of Ladyton, would exempt those who can show that they supported British troops in missions overseas from being sent to Rwanda.

Two former chiefs of defence staff are among the Lords who supported the clause, which the government have so far refused to concede on.

Lord Des Browne told the Lords on Wednesday that they had expected to hear a statement of assurance from the government that these brave soldiers would not be deported to Rwanda. This statement was retracted at the last minute because of a decision made by No 10, he said.

“Now is the time to give these people the sanctuary their bravery has earned,” he told the Lords. Lord Browne said in a warning to ministers: “It is time they learned the political consequences of their failure not to give either an assurance that is bankable or to accept this amendment. Because there is little if any support in your Lordship’s house for their failure to do this and there certainly no majority support in the country to treat these brave people this way.”

Speaking in favour of the amendment that would ensure Rwanda is safe, Lord Coaker, Labour’s shadow home affairs spokesperson in the Lords, said the change “simply makes the Bill make sense”.

The clause would allow a monitoring committee to assess whether Rwanda becomes an unsafe country in the future. He explained: “Why on earth would the government oppose that particular amendment? It’s one of those things that is completely unbelievable.”

Home Office minister Michael Tomlinson had urged peers to pass the Bill earlier on Wednesday, saying that it would “send a clear signal that if you come to the United Kingdom illegally you will not be able to stay”.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom told peers that MPs had “already considered and rejected” the favoured amendments several times.

Mr Sunak, who has made stopping the boats one of his five key pledges, was left scrambling to save his flagship plan after the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful late last year.

In a damning judgement, the highest court in the land found that there was a real risk asylum seekers sent to Rwanda could be returned to their home countries to face “persecution or other inhumane treatment”.

In response, Mr Sunak pledged new “emergency” legislation to get flights in the air.

Treasury minister Laura Trott said ministers would be “ready for flights to take off in the spring when the legislation passes.”

But she added that there were “many definitions of spring” when pressed on a timeline.

The spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, recently calculated that if 300 people are eventually sent to Rwanda, the cost will amount to £1.8 million per person.

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here.