Fresh from his big statement in the Commons, James Cleverly has landed this morning in Kigali. The Home Secretary’s focus yesterday was on legal migration and bringing down the net total down by 300,000; today it’s on illegal migration and fixing the Rwanda scheme. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful on the grounds that Rwanda is not a safe country to process asylum claims.
In response, ministers are adopting a two-pronged approach. The first is a new treaty with Rwanda to stop asylum seekers being deported back to their country of origin. This is the purpose of Cleverly’s visit today, with Kigali now expected to receive an additional £15 million on top of the £140 million already budgeted for the scheme. The new treaty updates the existing Migration and Economic Development Partnership between the two countries. Its details will be published today but could see British lawyers stationed in Rwandan courts.
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