Kagame offers to return the UK's money if no asylum seekers arrive in Rwanda under its controversial policy

PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has offered to refund the £240m the British government paid to the country to accept its asylum seekers if nobody takes up the offer of relocating to the East African nation.

In a highly controversial move, the UK government introduced a Rwanda policy under which asylum seekers from third countries will be relocated to East Africa. However, the policy is yet to take off, as it has been subject to numerous legal challenges and the UK government might be forced to scrap it altogether.

Aware of how unlikely the policy is to proceed, President Kagame has offered to return money if no asylum seekers arrive in Rwanda. President Kagame said he will return UK taxpayers' money, if no asylum seekers are sent to Rwanda under the government’s deal with the country

According to the UK government, it has paid £240m to Rwanda so far, with a further £50m expected in the 2024/25 financial year but so far, no asylum seekers have been sent to the country. Speaking on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Kagame did not clarify how much of the money he would return, or when.

He added: “It’s only going to be used if those people will come. If they don’t come, we can return the money.”