"Our landmark treaty with Rwanda makes it clear - we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats," Cleverly wrote on X.
Cleverly told reporters after the signing that Rwanda did not ask for any additional funding with the new deal but mentioned "inevitable" expenses that the African country would incur introducing "changes that this partnership has created in their systems: in their legal systems and their institutions."
A key provision of the new deal is that "the foundation will be laid to introduce new legislation to allow parliament to consider Rwanda as safe," as the UK Supreme Court's ruling was based on the premise that Rwanda was not a safe country to send asylum seekers. Neither will the deported asylum seekers be returned to "unsafe third countries," the UK Home Office said on X.
"To further bolster assurances that relocated individuals will not be returned, under the Treaty, Rwanda’s asylum system will be strengthened through a new Appeal Body" that will "be composed of judges from a mixture of nationalities with asylum and humanitarian protection expertise ... to hear individual appeals," the home office said on its website.
To go into force at the international level, the agreement must be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
The UK government treated immigration as one of its priority concerns since leaving the European Union in 2020. In March, the UK government presented a bill that sought to relocate migrants who came to the UK illegally by boat across the English Channel to a "safe third country" like Rwanda. In late June, however, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that London's plan to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda was unlawful, prompting the Home Office to appeal for a review of the decision with the supreme court.