Rwanda is demanding Britain pays £50million for the cancelled migrant deportataion scheme. The Rwandan government has reportedly sent a formal notice invoicing the British Government for the amount which it had agreed to waive when it was announced the UK would scrap the controversial scheme.
Kigali claims that because London has yet to formally end the agreement it can come after the payment. News of Rwanda’s claim emerged after British Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended aid to Rwanda and raised the spectre of sanctions over the African country’s backing of the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said in a statement reproduced by the Telegraph that the UK breached the “trust and good faith” between the two countries as a result of its “unjustified” and “punitive” measures to “coerce” Rwanda into compromising its national security.
She accused Lord Collins of Highbury, Britain’s minister for Africa, of making comments that have misled the public, echoed the DRC’s “propaganda machine” and undermined a peace process led by Africa.
Ms Makolo said Rwanda is now “following up” on the £50m to which, she claimed, the UK is legally bound.
Lord Collins had suggested Rwanda had links to the Allied Democratic Forces, a group linked to the Islamic State group based in Uganda and eastern DRC. The peer subsequently withdrew his comment.
Labour scrapped the Rwanda deportation deal when it came to power in July. It would have seen migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats sent to the nation’s capital.
The scheme was championed by the previous Conservative government and aimed at deterring further Channel crossings.
Britain had paid £220m to February last year, with three £50m payments due in April of this year, 2026 and 2027. The deal included a break clause which allowed Britain to terminate future payments.
The £50m now claimed by Rwanda is reportedly for this April’s payment. Ms Makolo said Britain asked Rwanda to “quietly” forgo the payment when they couldn’t transfer migrants to the country, with the formal notification of termination “forthcoming”. She said the UK failed to formally end the agreement. The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
In a three-week offensive, M23 rebels have seized control of eastern Congo’s main city, Goma, and taken the second largest city, Bukavu.
The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral for the production of capacitors used in consumer electronics, such as laptops and smartphones.
M23 rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts. They have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Meanwhile, Rwanda has accused Congo of enlisting ethnic Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The Foreign Office has said it will limit engagement with the government in Kigali over its links to the rebel offensive.
Britain has called for for an immediate end to the hostilities, humanitarian access, respect for international humanitarian law, meaningful engagement with African-led peace processes and the withdrawal of all Rwanda Defence Forces from Congo’s territory.
