LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s King Charles has given his assent to legislation central to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Royal assent is the final stage in the legislative process, and effectively rubber stamps the decision taken by parliament earlier this week to approve the bill after a long battle between the government and opponents of the plan.
The Royal Assent was announced in the House of Lords on Thursday, meaning the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will now become law.
Parliament approved the legislation in the early hours of Tuesday morning. On Monday, Sunak said he expected the first flights to Rwanda to take off in 10 to 12 weeks after it was passed.
According to the new legislation, all asylum seekers entering Britain unlawfully will be relocated to Rwanda. Sunak has said the initial deportation flight is scheduled for July, pointing to a series of expulsions throughout the summer.
Rwandans are criticizing the UK’s new bill to deport asylum seekers to their country, calling it “ethically questionable” and yet “another brutal manifestation of Western neo-colonialism and imperialism.”
 “The approach adopted is ill-advised. Personally, I think this deal is ethically questionable on many levels,” Louis Gitinywa, a Rwanda-based political analyst and a human rights lawyer, told Anadolu Agency. 
“Also, this is again another brutal manifestation of Western neo-colonialism and imperialism because I don’t understand why poor countries of the Global South like Rwanda should bear the heavy cost of hosting migrants.”
Tens of thousands of migrants have made their journey across the English Channel in small boats over the past few years, with a significant number seeking refuge from conflict and economic hardship.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has also said the UK’s controversial Rwanda policy was already “impacting on Ireland,” as many asylum seekers are pouring into the country from Northern Ireland over the fear of deportation.
“Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have,” Martin told the British daily Telegraph.
His remarks came after Ireland’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee on Thursday told a parliament scrutiny committee that more than 80% of recent asylum seekers in Ireland crossed into the country from the UK.
Martin noted the policy was already “impacting on Ireland” as asylum seekers were “fearful” of staying in the UK due to the Rwanda Bill.