King Charles III has given his assent to the UK government’s legislation which will allow asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill 2024 received Royal Assent on Thursday and will now become law in the UK.

Royal assent is the final stage in the British legislative process, and effectively rubber stamps the decision taken by Parliament earlier this week to approve the bill. The King himself is removed from the political process and the step is really a bureaucratic finality. The bill would enable the deportation of illegal migrants under the UK-Rwanda international treaty on asylum partnership. The treaty, signed in December 2023, allows for the creation of mechanisms for asylum seekers to claim protection in Rwanda.

The act itself officially declares that Rwanda is a “safe country,” where asylum seekers can have their applications processed without putting their human rights at risk. The act became necessary after a long battle between the government and the judiciary regarding the legality of the Rwanda proposals. In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled against the plan, finding that Rwanda present a real risk of returning asylum seekers to their home countries, in breach of the international law principle of non-refoulment. Non-refoulment refers to the practice of not forcing migrants or asylum seekers to be sent to a country in which they are likely to be persecuted. However, the decision did confirm that it was in principle legal to resettle illegal migrants for the purposes of determining their asylum claims, so long as they were sent to a safe country.

In response to the passing of the act, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

The passing of this landmark legislation is not just a step forward but a fundamental change in the global equation on migration. We introduced the Rwanda Bill to deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them. The passing of this legislation will allow us to do that and make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.

Concerns about the Rwanda plan have been raised by several human rights groups. In March, the UN Committee on Human Rights called on the UK to withdraw the act and certain provisions of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 due to human rights concerns. The committee stated that it was “deeply concerned” that these laws risk potential discrimination against migrants and asylum seekers and breached UN Conventions on the treatment of refugees.