Rwanda paid $277m for aborted migrant deal

Rwanda has no obligation to pay back $277m already paid under the Rwanda-UK Migration and Economic Development Partnership Initiative. This after the UK's new government cancelled the migrant deal which has caused deep divisions. The previous Conservative Government had negotiated that deal ‘to address the irregular immigration crisis affecting the UK – a problem that concerns the UK, not Rwanda,’ the Rwandan Government said in a statement. Kigali said it remained committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis. News24 reports that Rwanda was merely trying to help the UK with its problem, Kigali added. The statement was issued after new Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a press conference the deportation plan was ‘dead and buried’. The five-year Rwanda-UK Migration and Economic Development Partnership Initiative was signed in April 2022 and had been due to soon start sending undocumented immigrants from the UK to Rwanda. Most of the migrants would have been those coming into the UK through the English Channel using small boats. In return, Rwanda was set to get R8.5bn under the UK's Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) designed to support economic growth in Rwanda. According to the UK Government, Rwanda has already received R5bn under the ETIF. There is no obligation to pay back the money. However, future payments were tied to the number of individuals relocated.