Belize rejects idea of ‘inhumane’ Rwanda-style asylum deal with UK

Belize has rejected the idea of accepting a Rwanda-style deal with the UK to accept unwanted asylum seekers – calling such a policy “inhumane”.

No 10 confirmed that the government is trying to reach deals with other countries willing to follow Rwanda and take migrants arriving via the English Channel on one-way flights.

Paraguay, Peru and Belize are reportedly among the options – but Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said it was “not helpful to comment on speculation around potential discussions”.

Belize’s foreign minister Eamon Courtenay said on Twitter on Thursday that the Carribbean country “is not in negotiations with the UK or any other country to accept migrants”.

In scathing remarks, the minister added: “We will not agree to accept exported migrants. That is inhumane and contrary to international law.”

The Daily Express first reported that Mr Sunak’s government was trying to strike Rwanda-style deals with Belize, Peru and Paraguay in a bid to expand the highly controversial “offshore processing” scheme.

But influential Tory donor Lord Ashcroft – who has close ties to Belize – tweeted: “Contrary to this story Belize will not take migrants from the UK.”

Suella Braverman said at last month’s Tory conference that seeing a flight take failed asylum seekers to Rwanda was her “dream” and “obsession”.

But the home secretary, reappointed after being sacked for a security breach, admitted that she does not expect any planes to take off until after Christmas because of ongoing legal challenges.

Last month, The Independent revealed the horror of the first attempted flight in June – thwarted after legal action – which saw asylum seekers restrained and attached to plane seats after self-harming and threatening suicide.

It comes as the first legal action over conditions at the Manston migrant holding centre in Kent was revealed on Thursday.

Lawyers on behalf of charity Detention Action have threatened legal action against Ms Braverman in a pre-action letter to the Home Office.

The charity said it represents the first action taken against the home secretary for the “unlawful treatment” of people held at the facility and is relates to a women held there – citing “egregiously defective conditions”.

Ms Braverman is touring immigration centres in Kent as she battles to get a grip on the chaos in the asylum system, amid huge criticism over her claim the UK faced an “invasion” of migrants.

She has come under mounting pressure over the possibly illegal conditions at Manston – where around 3,500 people are still being detained for weeks in a site intended to hold 1,600 for only 24 hours.

Government minister Graham Stuart appeared to concede that the site was not operating legally, saying “none of us are comfortable with it”.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick also suggested the current situation at Manston may be neither humane nor legal – telling Sky News he expects it “will be returned to a well-functioning and certainly legally compliant site very rapidly”.

Mr Jenrick, who previously said ministers were working on a “fast track” system to deport new arrivals, reportedly plans to visit Albania in the coming weeks, after officials said Albanians were “dominating” the smuggling operations from northern France.

The government is said to be drawing up plans to change asylum rules so Albanians arriving on small boats will have their claims assessed separately and “within days” in a bid to start rapid returns.

But ties with the country appear to have soured. Albanian prime minister Edi Rama lashed out at Ms Braverman’s “crazy” choice of language, claiming on Thursday that she was “fuelling xenophobia”.

Mr Rama suggested that the UK should expand visas, saying Germany did the same in 2020 when it was facing a surge in migrants from Albania.