UK enters talks with four countries to replicate Rwanda deal and deport illegal migrants there

Rishi Sunak is set to recruit another four countries to deport illegal migrants as Britain seeks to replicate the Rwanda deal, leaked documents have revealed.

The UK is reportedly in talks with Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana as part of a “third-country asylum processing deal”.

The countries are said to be part of a long list of potential locations where illegal migrants could be sent.

Other South American states including Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador were also considered by the Foreign Office (FCDO), The Times reports.

But documents suggest the governments may have less interest in signing up.

A “reserve list” also features Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone which could be approached.

Countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Namibia are believed to have “explicitly declined” to enter discussions.

The Prime Minister is thought to have given the Home Office and Foreign Office a deadline of last autumn to secure two additional deals.

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The countries were tested against a feasibility criteria by the civil service – including the size of the territory and of its population.

The Home Office shared concerns that not focusing on “credible and realistically deliverable” risks “wasting time, resource and political capital”.

Other issues, including problems with the Rwanda Bill putting potential candidates off, were raised.

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

“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.”

It comes as the Government prepares to bring its Rwanda Bill back to the Commons today in an effort to get deportation flights off to the East African nation.

Officials are preparing for the first flights to leave the UK for Rwanda within weeks.

But the likelihood is that the new law will face a fresh wave of legal challenges, which could add more delays to the plan.