Residents, Keir Starmers new Labour Government recently scrapped the controversial Rwanda Plan. The deportation scheme was aimed at deterring illegal migration to Britain, particularly small-boat Channel crossings by relocating illegal migrants to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. 

‍

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak's Conservative governments proposed the plan and went on to spend around £270 million on the partnership. Following Labour's landslide win in the recent elections, new Prime Minister Keir Starmer ended years of controversial debates, legal actions and injunctions, by declaring the scheme ‘dead and buried’. 

‍

However, the Rwandan Ministry of Justice’s Doris Uwicyeza Picard, who is the co-ordinator of the scheme, stated that they are ‘under no obligation’ to refund any of the £270 million invested into the plan by the previous Tory government. She added: 

‍

“We will remain in constant discussions. However, it is understood that there is no obligation on either side to request or receive a refund.”

‍

In its statement, following the scheme's cancellation, the Rwandan government said:

 "This partnership was initiated by the government of the UK in order to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK… a problem of the UK, not Rwanda...

‍

Rwanda has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances, and remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country."

‍

Rwanda's deputy government spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda also stated:

“The agreement we signed did not stipulate that we should return the money. Let this be clear, paying back the money was never part of the agreement”.

‍

At least 24,000 asylum seekers were set to be transferred to Rwanda before the scheme was scrapped. 

‍