Rwandan government breaks silence after Keir Starmer axes migrant flight plans

The Rwandan government has insisted it “remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis” after Sir Keir Starmer axed deportation flights to Kigali.

The new Prime Minister said the scheme - which was central to the Conservatives' plan to stop small boats crossing the Channel - had been scrapped within hours of him taking office.

Sir Keir has branded it a "gimmick" and insisted the money paid to Kigali would be diverted to pay for a new Border Security Command.

A Government source has told the Daily Express no additional money will be paid to the Rwandan Government.

The Rwandan government said in a statement on Monday night: "Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK Government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement, as provided for under the terms of the treaty passed by both our parliaments.

"This partnership was initiated by the Government of the UK in order to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK — a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.

"Rwanda has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances, and remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country."

Under the Government's plan for a new Border Security Command, more British investigators and spies will be based in Europe to hunt down migrant smuggling gangs.

Labour is hoping MI5 intelligence officers will treat people smugglers like foreign spies and terrorists.

This could see them bug smugglers' phones and trace their movements, sources suggested.

The new command would bring together officers from agencies including MI5, Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency, focused on stopping the criminals and “freed from the cloying bureaucracy that so often prevents collaboration between different institutions”.

Around 15 European countries are considering "off-shore" asylum processing deals with countries around the World to act as a deterrent to illegal migrants.

But the UK Government now has very few options on where it can send failed asylum seekers.

Ministers are unable to send migrants to many of the countries where the largest cohorts of small boat arrivals come from due to fears they could be killed, tortured or falsely imprisoned.

The UK has already paid £220m to the Rwandan Government since April 2022, with further annual payments of £50m originally scheduled for the next three years.

This would have amounted to a total of £370m over five years.

If more than 300 people were eventually sent to Kigali, the UK would pay a one-off sum of £120m into the fund, with further payments of £20,000 per individual relocated.

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak was forced to draw up emergency legislation after the Supreme Court in November ruled the Rwanda scheme was illegal.

The Bill declared that Rwanda is a safe country and was introduced alongside a treaty declaring that migrants will not be sent from Kigali back to their home countries.

Ministers also believed the Rwanda Bill would prevent “systemic” legal challenges against the proposals and end the “endless” cycle of appeals by migrants and their lawyers.

But Sir Keir said of the scheme: "The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started."

He argued the scheme has "never been a deterrent" as it would only deport "less than 1 percent" of small boat arrivals.

He added: "Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.

"It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent."