The Rwandan government has said it is “under no obligation” to repay any of the £270 million it has received from the UK for the cancelled deportation scheme as a row broke out between the two countries.
Sir Keir Starmer declared the deal “dead and buried” on Saturday without a single migrant being deported under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which was signed in April 2022. A total of four migrants have been relocated voluntarily to Rwanda after the scheme was expanded in March to include failed asylum seekers who were offered £3,000 to move to Kigali.
Yvette Cooper, the new home secretary, has announced an audit of the controversial scheme. Downing Street has said it will look “very carefully” at money that could be retrieved from the deal.
However, Dr Doris Uwicyeza Picard from the Rwandan ministry of justice in charge of the scheme in Kigali, made clear that her government did not have to repay any of the money handed over by the UK as it had upheld its side of the agreement.
Picard told the BBC World Service: “We are under no obligation to provide any refund. We will remain in constant discussions. However, it is understood that there is no obligation on either side to request or receive a refund.”
She added: “We were informed of the UK’s decision. We take note of the UK’s decision to terminate the agreement. There is a break clause which means the UK can withdraw from paying a further £50m in 2025 and again in 2026.
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“Rwanda has maintained its side of the agreement, and we have ramped up capacity to accommodate thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. We have upheld our end of the deal.
“We understand that changes in government happen and incoming governments have different priorities and different policies.
“However, this was a state to state agreement and we believe this good faith will remain.”
The UK has paid Rwanda £270 million so far but under the terms of the five-year deal either side can cancel the partnership with three-months notice. Under the deal, the UK was due to pay Rwanda £50 million for each of the next three years, a one-off £120 million sum once the first 300 migrants had been relocated and £171,000 for each individual deported.
Hope Hostel in Kigali has been waiting for more than two years to welcome the first asylum seekers from Britain.
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However, with no guests to host in its 50 rooms, staff have stayed busy trimming the lawns of its pristine grounds and polishing the four-storey building in the capital’s Kagugu district where 100 migrants were due to start arriving in June 2022.
The lobby with airport-style security, a carpeted prayer space and the large processing centre which was to double as a place for migrants to watch films and play pool are spotless. A welcome sign reading “come as a guest leave as a friend” remains in place.
The hostel manager told a reporter for The Times that they had been given no orders to stand down. “We have had no instructions and are carrying on as usual. We are very prepared to receive arrivals,” Ismael Bakina said.
The Home Office has formally dropped plans to deport several asylum seekers who had brought legal action over their proposed deportation to Rwanda.
Sir James Eadie, acting on behalf of the Home Office, told the High Court that asylum claims from migrants previously due for deportation to Rwanda “will be considered in a manner consistent with the new government’s new asylum policy”.
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He added: “That asylum policy does not involve removals to Rwanda.”
Their asylum applications will now be considered alongside more than 90,000 claims from migrants who were barred from the asylum system under Rishi Sunak’s Illegal Migration Act.
Labour has said it will scrap this provision and allow migrants who arrive by small boats into the asylum system, which has been branded an “amnesty” by the Conservatives.
Starmer has pledged to use the £75 million that had been earmarked for the Rwanda scheme over the next year to recruit hundreds of investigators, agents and prosecutors that will form his new Border Security Command centre, tasked with leading his promise to “smash the gangs” who facilitate the small boat crossings.
Labour has also pledged to set up a new returns and enforcement unit that will bring together experts in the Foreign Office and 1,000 additional staff to ensure that failed asylum seekers and others with no right to be here are removed.
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Meanwhile, Sir Tony Blair urged Starmer to retain tough controls on immigration to “close off the avenues” of populists.
The former prime minister said the Labour government should respond to the challenge posed by parties such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the wave of right-wing populism across Europe by addressing voters’ concerns on immigration. He said Starmer should strike a balance between harnessing the “enormous benefits” of immigration while recognising the need for restrictions on the numbers coming to the UK.
Net migration stood at 685,000 at the end of last year after falling slightly from a record-high of 764,000 in 2022.
Sunak introduced five measures this year to reduce immigration by about 300,000 including a ban on foreign students and care workers bringing dependants to the UK as well as raising the minimum salary threshold that foreign workers need to gain a visa to the UK.
Asked how Starmer’s government should respond to the threat posed by Farage’s Reform UK party, Blair told BBC Radio 4 Today: “On immigration, I think there is a centre ground that can hold, which is where people understand there are enormous benefits to immigration. And by the way, a lot of what we are talking about, these great AI innovations, look at the people leading them — many of them are immigrants into this country.
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“But at the same time, I think people want controls. So this is the balance that you need to strike because, as I say, if you don’t have rules you get prejudices.”
