"Ending the wasteful Migration and Economic Development partnership with Rwanda”
The UK government has told the Rwandan government it won’t continue with the Conservatives’ plans to send asylum seekers to the country, though it’s unclear if the treaty linked to the plans has yet been formally terminated.
The Migration and Economic Development Partnership is an agreement which the UK and Rwanda signed in 2022, establishing what was informally referred to as the “Rwanda policy”—the previous Conservative government’s plan to deter small boat crossings by sending asylum seekers who had arrived via irregular methods to Rwanda.
The agreement was later established as a formal treaty. This was ratified in April 2024, making it legally binding.
No migrants were ever forcibly relocated to Rwanda under the policy, though a small number did relocate voluntarily under a separate scheme.
In its election manifesto Labour pledged to end the partnership, which could be formally terminated by written notification from either party, with the termination becoming effective three months after this notification was received.
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We’ve rated this pledge as “achieved” because the UK government has confirmed it won’t be continuing with the policy, and this has been acknowledged by the Rwandan government. It’s unclear if the UK-Rwanda Treaty has yet been formally terminated, however.
Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that his government would not proceed with plans to send migrants to Rwanda during his first press conference as Prime Minister on 6 July 2024.
The Rwandan government published a press release on 8 July stating: “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK Government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement, as provided for under the terms of the Treaty passed by both our Parliaments.”
On 22 July the home secretary Yvette Cooper told Parliament that she had “informed the Rwandan Government that we will be ending the migration and economic development partnership”. She added that some of the money saved from the scheme would be spent on the new Border Security Command instead.
When we contacted the Home Office in late October 2024 it told us it would “end the UK-Rwanda treaty”, but it’s not immediately clear whether that means the treaty has already been formally terminated or that is yet to happen. We’ve asked for clarification and will update this page if we hear back.
The Home Office also told us the government plans to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act, which designated Rwanda a safe country for migrant relocations and also attempted to prevent most legal challenges to the policy.
As we develop this Government Tracker we’re keen to hear your feedback. We’ll be keeping the Tracker up to date and adding more pledges in the coming months.
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Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister – 24 September 2024