Five EU countries are set to use Rwanda migrant centres built with BRITISH cash after Labour scrapped the UK scheme

Five EU countries — Germany, Austria, Greece, the Netherlands and Denmark — are in advanced talks with Rwanda about using facilities that British taxpayers funded for the now-scrapped UK deportation scheme. An announcement is expected at a migration conference in Vienna on November 16, and Greece's migration minister Thanos Plevris has confirmed a signing will take place by early 2027. Unlike the British arrangement, the EU hub would not process asylum claims; instead it would detain rejected asylum seekers while their removal to their home countries is arranged.

Britain spent around £700 million setting up the Rwanda deal, including £290 million paid directly to Kigali — leaving other countries poised to benefit from that investment.

The pilot would begin with roughly 100 rejected asylum seekers, around 20 from each participating state, with the hub operational by 2027.