Rwanda says migrant deal abandoned by new UK government does not provide for repayment of funds already received

Rwanda warned on Tuesday, July 9, that the controversial migrant deal concluded with the United Kingdom, but abandoned by the new British government, did not provide for the restitution of funds already paid by London. “The agreement we signed did not stipulate that we should return the money”Rwandan government deputy spokesman Alain Mukuralinda told state television.

On Saturday, two days after the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the general election, the new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, announced the abandonment of a plan to deport asylum seekers and migrants who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to the East African country. The Labour leader said the plan, drawn up by the previous Conservative government, was “dead and buried”.

London has already paid Kigali £240 million (€280 million) under the deal since former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced it in April 2022. The UK Supreme Court ruled last November that the bill, which has been the subject of a series of legal challenges, was illegal under international law. But in April, the British Parliament approved it after a protracted battle between the upper house, which was reluctant to accept the controversial text, and the lower house.