Accommodation prepared for the UK’s abandoned Rwanda asylum plan could reportedly be repurposed under a possible new migration agreement involving five European countries and the east African nation.
The Labour government scrapped the Conservatives’ Rwanda arrangement shortly after taking office, making the decision one of its first major policy moves.
However, reports suggest that facilities originally intended for asylum seekers deported from Britain could now be used by Germany, Austria, Greece, the Netherlands and Denmark.
One site potentially involved is a complex of more than 500 apartments on the outskirts of Kigali. Suella Braverman, who was home secretary at the time, attended a brick-laying ceremony there during an official visit in 2023.
Conservative MPs have argued that the emerging proposal exposes Labour’s decision to cancel the Rwanda scheme as “weak and foolish”, while urging ministers to revive the original agreement.
An estimated £700million in UK taxpayers’ money was committed to establishing the Rwanda partnership. That included £290million paid to the Rwandan government to prepare accommodation and provide other services for asylum seekers.
Then home secretary Suella Braverman attended a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on 500 apartments in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2023
Mrs Braverman and Rwandan infrastructure minister Ernest Nsabimana, left, at the groundbreaking ceremony for homes intended for migrants in Kigali
Under the Conservative government’s plan, anyone who entered the UK illegally, including people arriving in small boats, could have been sent to Rwanda to pursue an asylum claim there.
The five European countries and Rwanda are reportedly nearing an agreement, with an announcement potentially set to take place alongside a migration conference in Vienna next month, according to the Financial Times.
Greece’s migration minister Thanos Plevris said: “The country and the exact timetable will be announced in November.
“The agreement will be signed by the end of the year or in January, and possibly as early as April or May, returns to a third country will become a reality.”
People familiar with the negotiations said financial pressures had led the European countries to consider using “existing infrastructure” in Rwanda, including sites that may have been developed under the UK’s cancelled scheme.
A separate source told the FT that officials were examining a complex originally constructed for Britain’s asylum deportation plan.
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The only completely new development publicly known to have formed part of the Conservatives’ Rwanda agreement was a block of flats at Gahanga, outside Kigali.
The Hope Hostel in Kigali, Rwanda, where migrants were expected to stay after arriving on deportation flights from the UK
In 2023, Mrs Braverman helped lay the first bricks for the planned development, which was expected to contain more than 500 apartments.
The Hope Hostel in Kigali is another possible location. Then home secretary Dame Priti Patel visited the site in 2022 while announcing the migration agreement with Rwanda.
The proposed European scheme is intended to remove migrants whose asylum applications have already been refused.
Some participating countries, including Denmark, are understood to be considering extending the arrangement to people whose asylum claims are still being assessed.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘This shows how weak and foolish the Labour government is.
‘The UK’s Rwanda scheme was ready to start in July 2024 but the first thing Labour did after winning the election was to cancel it just days before it was due to start.
‘Now we see other European countries using the very facilities the British taxpayers’ money paid for in Rwanda – all because Labour needlessly cancelled our scheme.’
He added: ‘Common sense tells you that if illegal immigrants are rapidly deported, they’re pretty soon going to stop coming.
‘It’s time this Labour government saw sense and brings back the Rwanda scheme.
‘Otherwise illegal immigrants will keep coming – 85,000 have crossed the Channel since the election with many more expected in the coming days.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Home Secretary has repeatedly said that the UK – like other European countries – continues to explore new models like return hubs.
‘We are continuing to work closely with governments around the world to develop and maintain returns agreements.’
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