Rwanda could sign migrant deals with Donald Trump and EU after Britain missed out | Politics | News

Rwanda is willing to sign new migrant deals with Donald Trump’s US and the EU, its foreign minister has said.

Olivier Nduhungirehe revealed Kigali could sign up to similar schemes it negotiated with the UK.

And Mr Nduhungirehe rejected claims that the deportation deal with the UK would not have helped to end the Channel migrant crisis.

The Rwanda foreign minister said: “If there is any will from another country to discuss this, we will be open to discuss, to see how it can be materialised.”

Mr Nduhungirehe said Rwanda had not yet had any direct approaches but said: “We are open to continue contributing to the solution to the migration, if in the days or months or years to come, we have to get into partnership with another country.

“So we consider all the conditions, including the facilities.”

On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper published a breakdown of the much-contested claim that the deportation deal had cost taxpayers £715million.

The Labour frontbencher said London paid Kigali £290million, splurged £280million on IT, legal and staffing costs, spent £50million on the flights and preparing the airfields, and paid £95million on expanding migration detention centres.

Describing how such a scheme would become a deterrent, he told The Telegraph: “We believe that every country should address this issue of migration in a way that will deter migration while treating the migrants in a humane way according to international law.

“We are not going to tell other countries what they should do vis-a-vis migration.

“We did our part and we are willing to do it again, but for other countries, especially European countries, they should talk among themselves and then find an appropriate solution to the migration aiming at deterrence, but also receiving people who have reached the territory and integrating them according to international law.”

The UK paid Kigali £290million for the migrant deportation deal. But only four failed asylum seekers voluntarily moved to the country.

Mr Ndhuhngirehe said this infrastructure could be used as part of any future offshoring migrant scheme with another country.

“If we get into partnership with any other country, we will discuss the terms and conditions of that partnership and that could be considered at that time,” he said.

“We are open to continue contributing to the solution to the migration, if in the days or months or years to come, we have to get into partnership with another country. So we consider all the conditions, including the facilities.”

The housing complexes for migrants were designed for mixed accommodation of refugees and local Rwandan workers and their families.

Mr Ndhuhngirehe said no decision had been taken on whether those already built will be handed to local residents.

“We are still discussing within the government how to use that accommodation, not necessarily to deal with migration now that the MEDP [Migration and Economoc Development Partnership] is being terminated,” he said. “They will be used for other purposes.

“We are still discussing within the Government on how to use them. We have started implementing the agreement, because part of the money was on development of that infrastructure.

“What upset us is the fact that British internal politics somehow turned against Rwanda, while Rwanda was a country that just came to help.

“We didn’t really want to interfere in internal British politics, but we understand that with a different approach between different parties, even activists on the issue of migration, it’s not surprising to hear that kind of criticism.

“What we believe was not fair is that those criticisms turned against Rwanda while we just intervened to support, in order to contribute to the resolution of this migration crisis.”

Ms Cooper claimed the Conservatives’ flagship policy to end the small boats crisis had failed to stop a “single” boat.

The Rwanda flights were grounded by successive legal challenges.

After the Supreme Court ruled that the scheme was unlawful in November 2023, Rishi Sunak’s Government introduced emergency legislation to make clear in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill – which was finally approved after intense political wrangling – ordered courts to ignore key sections of the Human Rights Act.

It also compelled the courts to disregard other British laws or international rules – such as the international Refugee Convention – which would block deportations to Rwanda.

The UK government also signed a new migration treaty with Rwanda, which former Home Secretary James Cleverly said guarantees that anyone sent there would not risk being returned to their home country.

Other European nations were watching how the scheme worked, with the intention of then replicating them, sources have told the Daily Express.

More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, Home Office data has confirmed.

In total, 33,684 have arrived in the UK.

Ms Cooper said of the deal: “The result of that massive commitment of time and money was 84,000 people crossed the Channel from the day the deal was signed to the day it was scrapped.

“This so-called deterrent did not result in a single deportation or stop a single boat crossing the Channel. For the British taxpayer, it was a grotesque waste of money.

“Since the election, we swiftly deployed many of the people who were working on fantasy planning for the Rwanda scheme into working on to actual flights instead, for those who have no right to stay in the UK, helping to deliver nearly 10,000 returns since the election.”