UK government offers concessions over contested immigration plan

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government offered concessions on Monday to members of parliament’s upper house after they inflicted a series of
defeats on highly contested legislation to make it easier to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Under an initial 140-million-pound ($180 million) deal struck last year, Britain planned to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrive on its shores a distance of more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to the East African country.
There has already been a protracted legal fight over the plan, which has been criticised by some opposition politicians as inhumane and cruel.
The government’s concessions do not alter the overall intention of the legislation, which is to stop people who arrive in Britain without permission claiming asylum and to deport them either to their country of origin or a so-called safe country like Rwanda.
The House of Lords, Britain’s unelected upper chamber in parliament, approved 20 amendments last week to water down the government’s legislation.