HUMAN rights campaigners hit out today after a “bitterly disappointing” parliamentary vote in favour of the Tories’ Rwanda policy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “shameful” legislation passed its third reading in the Commons on Wednesday night by 44 votes.

The policy, which would see migrants who cross the Channel in small boats sent to Rwanda rather than being allowed to seek asylum in Britain, has faced global condemnation.

It will now be discussed by peers in the House of Lords, many of whom have been vocally critical of the plans.

Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “This historically bad Bill should never have seen the light of day in the first place and it’s bitterly disappointing to see it pass through the Commons.

“A shameful policy of refusing to process people’s asylum claims and instead shunting them off to an unsafe country thousands of miles away rips up the international rule book and needs to be stopped.”

Mr Deshmukh also called it “disturbing” to hear ministers “repeatedly undermining basic human rights protections” to “justify this deeply authoritarian Bill.”

The comment comes amid warnings that treating refugees in this way would breach European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) laws.

“We very much hope the House of Lords will now block this Bill and that even this profoundly anti-refugee government will then get back to the important business of fairly and efficiently deciding people’s asylum claims,” Mr Deshmukh said.

Lord Carlile, a former prominent lawyer, said the Bill represents “a step towards totalitarianism” and that the integrity of the British legal system is “under attack.”

He BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve seen in various countries the damage that is done when governments use perceived and often ill-judged political imperatives to place themselves above the courts.

“I think you’ll find that many of the lawyers in the House of Lords will say this is a step too far, this is illegitimate interference by politics with the law, on an issue that can be solved in other ways.”

Mr Sunak warned peers today against blocking the “will of the people,” calling his Bill “an urgent national priority.”

The PM said he was willing to ignore orders from the ECHR, but declined to say in what circumstances he would do so.

He also said his party was “united in wanting to stop the boats” amid tensions with far-right backbenchers who do not think the policy goes far enough.