Rwanda won't guarantee how many asylum seekers it can take from Britain under Rishi Sunak's scheme
Ministers have come under fire after a Rwandan official refused to say exactly how many asylum seekers the country will take.
The Government is desperate to get flights in the air as it battles a massive backlog, with record small boat crossings in the past fortnight. But Rwandan spokeswoman Yolande Makolo refused to provide numbers – hinting that there may only be accommodation for a couple of hundred at the moment. She said arrivals will have to be “staggered”.
The UK has agreed to pay the African nation £370milion over five years, plus add-ons of more than £150,000 per asylum seeker. If more than 300 people are sent, the UK will pay a further £120million.
Rwandan Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo denied the regime was involved in a deadly attack on Friday
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Makolo attempted to distance the Rwandan government from a bombing which killed nine people, including seven children, on Friday. She claimed the regime is not linked to the notorious M23 militia group, which carried out the deadly attack in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She accused the US Statement – which has pointed the finger at Rwanda – of being “hasty”.
The Home Office last week said it had started rounding up people earmarked for deportation, with flights expected to begin in July. Ms Makolo said: “We will be able to welcome the migrants that the UK sends over the lifetime of this operation. What I could not tell you is how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year.”
She said that the Hope Hostel in Kigali will be able to accommodate up to 200 people. But she said the Government had started “initial discussions” with other facilities across the country.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This interview shows that more people have arrived in the last week than are likely to be sent to Rwanda over the next few years, and the Conservatives are just trying to con people with their failing plans. Today we heard a stark admission that Rwanda can only take a tiny proportion of people who are arriving in the UK, yet the Government is spending half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money on this scheme.
“At the same time the Government is letting the backlog go back up and failing to process removals to safe home countries so the costs to the taxpayer will go up even further. The Conservatives have no plan, and no grip.”
It comes amid growing international pressure on the Rwandan regime over allegations it supports the M23 militia. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement: “The United States strongly condemns the attack (Friday) from Rwanda Defense Forces and M23 positions on the Mugunga camp for internally displaced persons in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Makolo said: “They’ve been very hasty to blame us without looking, without investigating this incident and without talking to the people who are affected.”
Latest Home Office figures reveal that 1,366 people arrived in the UK by small boat in just seven days.