Home Secretary James Cleverly arrives in Rwanda to sign new asylum treaty

James Cleverly has arrived in Rwanda to sign a new treaty for the government’s asylum plan.

It is part of Rishi Sunak’s mission to make the deal to send migrants who arrive in the UK by irregular means to Rwanda legally watertight following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the scheme.

In the wake of the judgement on 15 November, the government insisted it had been working on contingency measures and promised a treaty with Rwanda within days, along with emergency legislation in parliament.

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Mr Cleverly said Rwanda “cares deeply about the rights of refugees” and he looks forward to meeting counterparts and signing the deal.

The home secretary said: “We are clear that Rwanda is a safe country, and we are working at pace to move forward with this partnership to stop the boats and save lives.

“The Supreme Court recognised that changes may be delivered in future to address the conclusions they reached – and that is what we have set out to do together, with this new, internationally recognised treaty agreement.

“Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together to tackle the global challenge of illegal migration.”

There has been speculation Rwanda is pushing to get more money on top of the £140m already committed to the scheme.

The Sunday Times reported Kigali will be given a £15m top-up payment to agree fresh terms on its agreement with the UK.

Read more:
What is the government’s Rwanda plan?

Mr Sunak met Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai on Friday but declined afterwards to say how much more money he would spend to make the scheme a success.

Downing Street insisted there had been no demand for extra money from Rwanda, with the prime minister’s official spokesman saying: “Certainly I don’t recognise that figure of £15m, there’s been no request for additional funding for the treaty made by Rwanda, or not offered by the UK government.”

There had also been reports that British lawyers could be stationed in Rwandan courts in a bid to address concerns by the Supreme Court, which found in its ruling there would be a “real risk” of people being returned home regardless of whether their asylum claims were justified or not, in a breach of international law.

But Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the idea was “completely off the table”.

“We have non-removal clauses providing that no relocated individual shall be removed from Rwanda,” she said.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper accused the government of “going round in circles” on the Rwanda scheme, saying Mr Cleverly was the third home secretary to visit the country in support of the deportation scheme, which she branded “simply a gimmick”.

She said: “We want to stop dangerous boat crossings, they are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.

“What that means is we’ve got to have action to go after the criminal gangs who are making huge sums as a result of these dangerous boat crossings.

“Instead… it’s a bit like Groundhog Day – you’ve got the third home secretary in less than two years off to Rwanda with another chequebook.”

Mr Cleverly’s visit comes after he laid out his five-point plan to cut legal immigration in the Commons yesterday, including a ban on care workers bringing their families over to the UK and raising the minimum salary required for a skilled worker visa to £38,700 from next spring.

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Mhari Aurora

Political correspondent

@MhariAurora

The Rwanda scheme is making progress – or at least that’s what the government would like you to think.

Today, Home Secretary James Cleverly arrived in Kigali to sign the long-awaited treaty with the Rwandan government.

But don’t be fooled, the government isn’t out of the woods yet.

With emergency legislation expected to be introduced to Parliament on Thursday, frustrated backbenchers from the right of the Conservative Party are still sceptical about how robust the legislation will be in reality.

Although the government likes to talk tough on immigration, right-wing MPs remain unconvinced by the Home Office’s promises.

One Tory MP tells me colleagues are annoyed that the five-point plan announced yesterday in the hopes of curbing levels of legal migration was not announced sooner to see the impact ahead of a general election.

Having previously said the government’s flagship Rwanda policy is in fact not the be-all and end-all, Mr Cleverly will be speaking at a press conference later, where he is expected to promote the success of this next step in the government’s partnership with the country.

But there’s just one thing.

Back home in Westminster, his understudy – Robert Jenrick – has been going off-script.

In an interview with Sky News’s deputy political editor Sam Coates yesterday, the home secretary did not deny that the government had abandoned its 2019 manifesto commitment to get net migration below 250,000 before the next election.

However, on Sky News Breakfast with Kay Burley today, Mr Jenrick – speaking for the government – said he was committed to that manifesto pledge.

So which one is it?

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Speaking to Sky News this morning, immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he believed the government would meet its manifesto commitment of getting net migration below 250,000 before the next election – despite the current figure standing at a record-breaking 745,000 in 2022.

Put to him that even with the new measures announced yesterday, the government would still fall short of its target of 229,000, Mr Jenrick said reducing net migration “matters a great deal to me and to the government – and so if we need to do more, we will”.

Mr Jenrick, who has taken a hardline stance on migration issues, also told Sky News he was confident that flights to Rwanda would take off before the next election, which stands in contrast to colleagues – including the chancellor, who said there was “no guarantee” deportation flights to Rwanda will take off next year.