The U.K. government has announced a £120 million ($157 million) economic development program for Rwanda as part of a controversial migrant deportation scheme to that country.
“The U.K. is making a substantial investment in the economic development of Rwanda,” said Home Secretary Priti Patel during a press conference in the capital city of Kigali on Thursday, announcing a “migration and economic development partnership” between the two nations.
The scheme, announced days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fined by the police for breaching his own COVID-19 lockdown rules, will see migrants who have arrived in the United Kingdom by irregular routes deported to Rwanda. Those who receive refugee status “will be given full rights in Rwanda,” according to the Home Office. Tackling immigration has been a key aspect of Conservative Party policy for many years and was a decisive factor in 2016’s vote to leave the European Union, which has since shaped British politics.
A new “economic transformation and integration fund” aims to “support programs to improve the lives of people in Rwanda and develop the country, the economy, job prospects, and opportunities," said Patel. The U.K. intends to “provide funding and expertise to implement this agreement," she added.
A Home Office blog post said the economic development program will “enhance economic prosperity in the region by investing in upskilling, development and projects which will benefit both migrants and their hosts.” No further details were given on the program’s objectives or timeline.
Civil society reacted with outrage to the deportation plan, with more than 150 NGOs signing an open letter denouncing it. The United Nations high commission for refugees voiced “strong opposition and concerns about the United Kingdom’s plan.”
The Home Office said Rwanda is “internationally recognised for its safety, strong governance, low corruption, gender equality and as one of the fastest growing economies across Africa.” But human rights groups have long warned of a difficult situation in the country.
In January 2021, the U.K. government recommended that Rwanda investigate “allegations of extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody, enforced disappearances and torture, and bring perpetrators to justice.” It also called for the country to ensure journalists could work freely and to “provide support to trafficking victims, including those held in Government transit centres.”
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In an email to Devex, a Home Office spokesperson indicated that the aid budget is not going to be used to help pay for the Rwanda deal, adding that it will instead be supported by “new funding that comes from the Treasury.” When asked about the £120 million economic development program specifically, the spokesperson said that “this is all new money from HMT [Her Majesty’s Treasury].”
The Treasury allocates all funding across the U.K. government, including the aid budget. The Home Office received a record £915 million of U.K. aid last year, according to official statistics.
Senior sources in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office were unaware of whether aid would be used, and the department's press team directed questions to the Home Office.
“The UK-Rwanda Migration Partnership builds on wider collaboration with Rwanda on many shared issues, including efforts to combat climate change and delivering UK Aid,” the Home Office said. The current year’s bilateral aid budget for Rwanda is £41.3 million, according to the Development Tracker platform.
The first-year costs of the migrant deportation plan would depend on how many people were relocated, the Home Office spokesperson said. The numbers of migrants who could be relocated through the scheme has no cap.