People deported from Germany could be sent to the same accommodation in Rwanda originally intended for the UK’s now-abandoned deportation scheme, Germany migration minister Joachim Stamp suggested.
Barely two months after Britain’s new Labour government under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer scrapped plans as soon as his party came to power in early July to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, Germany has proposed adopting the scheme.
However, the German Ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, said the asylum seekers would only be sent to Rwanda for processing.
German politicians are under pressure to tackle illegal migration after three people were killed by a Syrian national at a festival in Solingen – an attack for which Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
The threat of deportation to Kigali, introduced by the last Conservative government, was intended to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Mr Stamp said Rwanda was willing to continue pursuing the idea with Germany.
“We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda,” he told a podcast by Table Media.
But posting on X, Mr Berger said: “Let’s be clear, there is no plan of the German government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“The discussion is about processing asylum applications in third countries under international humanitarian law and with support of the United Nations.”
Those most likely to be processed to Rwanda are people crossing the EU’s eastern borders.
“My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group – it’s about 10,000 people a year,” Mr Stamp said.
UK Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle warned Germany against copying the Conservative deportation scheme, telling Sky News the scheme “wasn’t workable”.
She added: “It was a gimmick. The last government spent £700m to get four people to voluntarily go to Rwanda. And they were gearing up to spend literally billions more… it simply wasn’t working.
“I think the German people will have to decide what to do, but my warning to them would be that the Rwanda scheme was an expensive gimmick and it won’t work.”
Rishi Sunak’s government faced a series of legal challenges to its Rwanda scheme, and not a single flight took off. In December, the European Union agreed on new rules to handle the irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants.
But it could be the end of 2025 before it takes effect in full.
