The Rwandan government has indicated it will not return more than $300 million it received from the United Kingdom from 2022 as part of an agreement to relocate asylum seekers who entered the country illegally from the East African nation. The controversial agreement to deport the migrants, which was scrapped by the new Labour government, does not include any clause stipulating the return of the financial resources involved. The information is from CNN,
On Tuesday (9), Rwandan government spokesman Alain Mukurlinda said the immigration agreement with the United Kingdom had no provision for refunds, after new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he would abandon the controversial pact.
Mukurlinda stressed that the agreement did not include provisions for reimbursement and highlighted that there was no commitment to return the money, as stated in a video broadcast by the state agency Rwanda Broadcasting Agency,
According to a briefing material released by the British government in April this year, the United Kingdom has so far given £240 million (about US$307 million) to Rwanda as part of the agreement.
Mukurlinda summarized: “We signed an international agreement and we started implementing it. If you want to go now, good luck.
The controversial plan, announced by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in April 2022, has faced political and legal challenges over human rights concerns.
The European Council expressed regret over the measure, stressing the importance of adhering to international standards on asylum and migration. At least five people recently died while trying to cross the English Channel, following the approval of a law allowing the deportation of migrants in Rwanda.
In his first press conference as prime minister on Saturday, Starmer said he was not keen to move forward on a controversial deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, calling the plan a “manoeuvre” and rejecting the idea that the bill acted as a barrier.
After the bill was approved in April this year, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued that the plan aimed to prevent dangerous crossings by vulnerable migrants and disrupt the business models of criminal groups that exploit them.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi criticised the bill, arguing that it seeks to shift responsibility for protecting refugees, undermine international cooperation, and set a worrying global precedent.
In February, the UN human rights chief said Britain’s legislative measures to facilitate the rapid removal of asylum seekers in Rwanda were contrary to fundamental principles of the rule of law and risked a “serious setback” to human rights.
“You cannot legislate on facts that do not exist,” said Volker Türk, who at the time called on the UK government to reconsider the bill in light of recent reports raising a number of concerns.
