Germany wants to send EU migrants to Rwanda and use UK facilities

Germany wants the EU to send migrants to Rwanda and use facilities originally set up to take those arriving in the UK by boat before Labour scrapped the plan. Berlin’s migration commissioner Joachim Stamp has proposed deporting those who arrive illegally in the bloc via Poland’s border with Belarus.

Germany’s special representative for migration agreements, said the EU could utilize existing asylum facilities in Rwanda, which were initially intended for arrivals from Britain. One of Sir Keir Starmer ‘s first acts after winning the election in July was to cancel the scheme before it had even started, after the Tory government had already spent £290million

The proposal comes amid rising pressure on Germany’s ruling coalition government to restrict irregular migration following a fatal stabbing linked to Islamic State at a city festival last month that fuelled far-right opposition and criticism of Berlin’s migration policies. Tory leadership candidate James Cleverly said: ‘Labour’s first move in government was to scrap the Rwanda plan. Now Germany want to use the facilities we built. The only people who benefit from Labour’s reckless immigration policies are people smugglers and the EU.’

Downing Street said it would not comment on the discussions between two foreign governments. In one of his first acts as PM, Sir Keir Starmer branded the UK’s deal with Kigali ‘dead and buried’ as he confirmed he was scrapping the Tory scheme. This was despite Conservative leader Rishi Sunak having pointed to signs the Rwanda plan was already working as a deterrent.

It had been speculated the new Labour Government could try and recoup some of the millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash already earmarked for Kigali. But the Rwandan government has now played down the prospect of a refund, despite no migrants ever being deported from the UK to Africa under the scheme. Under Stamp’s proposal, the asylum procedures in Rwanda would be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations. ‘We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda,’ Stamp said in a podcast by Table Media published on Thursday.

Stamp, a member of the junior coalition FDP party and whose position sits in Germany’s Interior Ministry, said this model would specifically target refugees crossing the EU’s eastern borders. ‘My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group. It’s about 10,000 people a year,’ he said, dismissing broader proposals from the conservative opposition to apply such a model to all refugees. He said Rwanda has publicly expressed its willingness to continue implementing this model.

In addition, Stamp suggested removing the so-called ‘connecting element’ in the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which currently requires external asylum procedures to be conducted in countries where the asylum seeker has a social connection. The European Union agreed in December on new rules to handle irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants, a deal hailed as a breakthrough after almost a decade of bitter feuds on the issue. It could take until the end of 2025 for the pact to take full effect. It came as UK ministers dropped plans to use RAF Scampton to house Channel migrants saying it would not be ‘value for money’.

The former airbase in Lincolnshire had been earmarked as accommodation for irregular arrivals by the Conservative government. A total of £60million has already been spent on the site, according to Home Office. But the department said work to close and sell it will begin immediately, insisting proceeding would have cost a total of £122million by 2027.

Home Office minister Angela Eagle said: ‘Faster asylum processing, increased returns and tighter enforcement of immigration rules will reduce demand for accommodation like Scampton and save millions for the taxpayer as we drive forward work to clear the asylum backlog and strengthen our border security. We have also listened to community feedback and concerns about using this site for asylum accommodation.’ Prior to the general election, Keir Starmer vowed Labour would act ‘straight away’ to begin the RAF site’s closure if it won power.

The government has already announced it is scrapping the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge, in Portland, Dorset, as migrant accommodation. Earlier this year, the National Audit Office found the Tories’ plans to use alternative large-scale sites to house asylum seekers would actually cost more than keeping them in hotels.

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