Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill was recently defeated in the House of Lords, delaying it until after Easter

Peers have further defeated Rishi Sunak’s flagship Small Boats Bill, which would have deported asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The House of Lords voted on Wednesday night that the government’s bill should have “due regard” to international law and that the UK’s treaty with Rwanda should be fully implemented before flights begin. Peers defeated the government in all seven votes, including passing an amendment exempting Afghan heroes who supported British troops from being deported to Rwanda.

Labour’s Lord Vernon Cork told colleagues the country’s reputation was at stake, stressing that it “cannot be right” that the underlying bill exempts ministers from complying with international law.

Lord Cork also scolded Tory colleagues for failing to inform the House of Representatives when the bill would return to the House of Lords for further debate, with colleagues now believing it will not return until after Easter. The delay will inevitably push back the departure date of flights to Rwanda.

Crossbench MP Lord Alex Carlile compared the rising cost of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda to staying at the Ritz in Paris, adding: “We are so far away from Rwanda being a safe country It’s a long way to go to feel satisfied.”

Government legal officer Lord Stewart of Dalton argued criticism of the Conservative government’s Rwanda Bill was “fundamentally misunderstood”.

“We cannot allow people to make such a dangerous crossing and we must do everything we can to prevent more lives lost at sea,” he said.

Conservative MP Lord Ken Clark, the former chancellor of the exchequer, was the only Tory MP to oppose his government in the second and third votes, making relatively minor changes to the bill that forced Rwanda to fly Rwanda’s preparations come under closer scrutiny before departure.

Peers also voted in favor of a Labor backbench amendment tabled by Baroness Lister of Bertset to require local authorities to carry out age assessments for those facing deportation to Rwanda. They also voted in favor of restoring domestic courts’ jurisdiction over the bill.

In response to an amendment aimed at protecting Afghan heroes who help Britain, the government told peers late on Wednesday it would consider exempting members of Afghan special forces from being deported by the UK.

independent It was first revealed that members of the Afghan Special Forces “Trio” who fought alongside British troops were wrongly denied help by the Ministry of Defense.

The relocation decision for the group, a small number of whom have already arrived in the UK by small boat, is currently being reviewed.

While the Illegal Immigration Act forces ministers to deport people from the UK who arrive by small boats, Conservative MPs have told the House of Lords that certain groups are exempt from the effects of the law.

This will come as a relief to Afghan special forces deemed eligible in the MoD’s new review of relocation decisions, but concerns remain that those who support British troops could once again be deemed ineligible for help.

Lord Des Brown, who proposed the Armed Forces Amendment, told the House of Lords: “We have been told that many of the people who have risked death, injury and forced exile to assist our armed forces in the fight against the Taliban will be brought here by irregular routes. and be punished.

“Even because of our wrongful refusal or possible malfeasance on the part of the Special Forces, that forced them to take those lines in the first place.”

Lord Browne said there were many Afghans in Afghanistan and Pakistan awaiting review decisions but “the far smaller number the amendment is intended to protect are already here”.

He continued: “They are forced to find irregular routes or face death or torture.

“last year independent, Lighthouse Reports and Sky have been revealing that due to [government] Due to errors and alleged interference by British Special Forces, Afghans who fought with the trio or alongside our armed forces were wrongly denied the ability to resettle and were forced to get here by other means. “

Lord Browne said the Government should not commit to future exemptions but should pass the amendment before them to achieve similar objectives.

He questioned whether Afghans who had been failed by the Defense Department could trust “those who were wrongly denied relocation visas in the first place”.

The amendment was passed by the House of Lords with a majority of 39 votes.

On Monday night, MPs overturned all 10 amendments to the Rwanda Security Bill, which included an attempt by MPs to prevent children over disputed ages from being sent to Rwanda.

The Home Office has identified 150 migrants for the first two deportation flights.

The bill will now return to the House of Commons for further scrutiny by MPs.