Rishi Sunak eyes up deals to deport migrants to Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana in bid to replicate Rwanda scheme

• Talks are said to have stalled as Rwanda scheme struggles to get off the ground

Britain is targeting four more countries as it seeks to replicate the Rwanda deportation scheme around the world, leaked documents are reported to show.

Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana have all entered talks with the UK government in what it describes as a ‘third-country asylum processing deal’, according to The Times.

Progress has reportedly stalled with all four countries, which were priorities in a long list of potential locations, as the Rwanda scheme struggles to get off the ground after two years of legal and political wrangling.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) also considered South American states including Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador, but suggested their governments may have less interest in signing up.

Among those on a ‘reserve list’ included Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone – meaning they could be approached if talks with other, more favoured targets didn’t succeed.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with Rishi Sunak last week as the British Prime Minister continues to push to get the Rwanda scheme up and running

File image shows a Border Force vessel docking in Dover following a small boat incident in the Channel last month

Meanwhile other countries including Morocco, Tunisia and Namibia are said to have ‘explicitly declined’ to enter technical discussions, and others were ruled out by officials as ‘non-starters’.

The UK is in talks with the nations after Rishi Sunak gave the Home Office and Foreign Office a deadline of last autumn to secure two additional deals, The Times reports.

Civil servants are said to be testing countries against a feasibility criteria, which include the size of the territory and of its population – with some smaller states such as Suriname and Belize ruled out.

There were fears expressed by the Home Office in its discussions with the FCDO that not focusing on ‘credible and realistically deliverable’ risks ‘wasting time, resource and political capital’ as well as exposure to potential diplomatic issues.

Ministers were said to be keen to approach a wide geographical range of countries in the process.

Concerns were expressed that issues with the Rwanda Bill could put potential candidates off, with Armenia for example said to be awaiting the outcome of the policy, which is set to cost at least £290 million.

One senior FCDO official is reported to have written in one correspondence: ‘We are conscious that many potential partner countries are following the UK legal process on the partnership with Rwanda and may be cautious about engaging substantively until this process is satisfactorily resolved.’

James Cleverly, who was foreign secretary at the time, reportedly told officials that pursuing any new countries would have to come at the same time as legal proceedings regarding Rwanda.

A government spokesman said: ‘The UK is continuing to work with a range of international partners to tackle global illegal migration challenges.

‘Sold’ signs outside units at the Bwiza Riverside Estate in Rwanda, ‘the majority’ of which are said to have been sold to locals

‘Our focus right now is passing the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which builds on the Illegal Migration Act, and putting plans in place to get flights off the ground as soon as possible.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said flights to Kigali will take off by spring, but refused to name a specific date.

The scheme has been in limbo since June 2022 when a flight was cancelled at the 11th-hour after a late night challenge at the European Court of Human Rights .

The Home Office is hoping to deport the first migrants by June, though it has so far failed to secure an airline to carry out the flights.

Concerns were expressed that issues with the Rwanda Bill could put potential candidates off, with Armenia for example said to be awaiting the outcome of the policy (file image of Yerevan)

Reports have suggested that Rwanda’s state-owned airline turned down a UK Government proposal to transport asylum seekers because it wanted to avoid being associated with the controversial scheme.

In 2022 Mallorca-based Privilege Style – originally hired to provide Rwanda flights – pulled out of the deal following pressure from campaigners.

If similar scenarios develop in the run-up to the first Rwanda flights, the Ministry of Defence could provide a ‘back-stop’, it has been suggested.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which aims to protect the Government’s troubled deportation scheme from further legal setbacks after the UK Supreme Court ruled against it, will return to the Commons next week.

As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, the legislation would also give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions.

But the Lords has insisted on an amendment to restore the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda to enable them to intervene.

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