New UK govt scraps Rwanda plan, Rwanda promises no refund for cancelling £270m deal
Following the Labour Party’s overwhelming victory, Sir Keir Starmer will succeed Mr. Sunak as prime minister of the United Kingdom.
With more than 500 out of 650 seats declared, Labour is projected to form the next government, with a majority of 166.
With just 136 MPs, the Conservatives are expected to have the worst performance in their history.
Then new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will not continue with the previous Conservative government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, in a move welcomed by rights advocates as long overdue.
“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It’s never been a deterrent,” Starmer told his first news conference on Saturday, after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general election.
According to Rwanda, Britain will not get any refund on the £270 million paid to it for the Conservatives’ asylum scheme.
Dr Doris Uwicyeza Picard, of the Rwandan ministry of justice, said the country had upheld its side of the deal to help the British government deal with what was a “UK problem”.
“We are under no obligation to provide any refund,” she stated to the BBC World Service. We’ll continue to have constant conversations. It is acknowledged, therefore, that neither party is required to ask for nor accept a return.
As part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, the UK has already given Rwanda £270 million, but not a single immigrant has been deported there under duress. Of the asylum applicants who have been given £3,000 to go to Rwanda, just four have done so willingly.
