Why do asylum seekers enter the UK on small boats?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial plan plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda will become law, after being approved by the House of Lords.

The government says the aim of the plan is to try to stop migrants from travelling to the UK illegally on small boats across the English Channel.

They say refugees should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. The UN Refugee Agency says this is not required by international law.

Each year thousands of people make the dangerous trip across the English Channel from France in small, overcrowded boats that are at risk of sinking.

The government aims to stop this by flying some asylum seekers who have made it to the UK, to Rwanda, a country in Africa 4,000 miles away.

Once there they will be allowed to apply for the right to live in the African country but will not be allowed to come back to the UK.

Not everyone is happy with the plan and it has faced a lot of criticism, from opposition parties, charities and even from people in the Conservative party.

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