A group of people believed to be migrants are taken to Dungeness, Kent, RNLI after a small boat incident in the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller.
Ministers are preparing to offer new safe and legal routes for the 20,000 refugees who will arrive in the UK next year as a major concession to the Tory rebels.
The government is understood to be ready to lay out routes within six months of the law on illegal migration becoming law, and accept the first refugees next year.
New safe and legal routes will be added to those already agreed for refugees from Ukraine , Hong Kong, Syria and Afghanistan.
These steps are expected to be set out in Thursday's amendments to a bill due to return to the House of Commons next week for a final report before it is considered by the House of Lords . Ministers are trying to pass the law before the summer holidays in July.
Previously, Rishi Sunak tried to delay announcing any new routes until he had the upper hand on illegal migration thanks to his government's plans to detain any migrants entering the UK illegally and quickly deport them to their home country or a safe third country such as like Rwanda.
Channel of migrants per year
Ministers pledged to open safe and legal routes for refugees, with a limit on the number of migrants agreed annually by a vote in Parliament. Under the new plans, the government will consult with local councils to develop a full scheme within six months of the bill becoming law.
They have been in talks with the rebels, led by former minister Tim Lawton, a member of the internal affairs. He told the Telegraph: «I've had some very constructive meetings with ministers and I'm looking forward to some useful amendments coming before the bill's deliberations on Tuesday.»
Mr. Lawton's amendment bringing the changes into effect was supported by at least a dozen Conservative MPs and is believed to have Labor support, meaning it could have dealt a serious blow to the government.
Between 2015 and last December, just under half a million people arrived in the UK via safe and legal routes, according to the Home Office. This includes 233,770 visas issued to Ukrainians and 153,708 visas issued to people from Hong Kong.
For refugees fleeing Afghanistan, there is a separate safe and legal route that aims to resettle up to 20,000 people over the next few years.
Ministers are also considering concessions on the detention of migrant children under the age of 18, which could mean the Home Office would have to obtain court approval to detain them for more than 72 hours.
< p >It comes as a group of about 60 conservative rebels refuse to give in to demands to tighten Rishi Sunak's bill on illegal migration.
MPs are demanding the government take a measure that would prevent the European Court of Human Rights Rights (ECtHR) from issuing injunctions against deportation flights of migrants, known as Rule 39 orders. The Strasbourg Court granted an injunction to suspend the first scheduled deportation flight to Rwanda at 11:00 a.m. last June.
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