Germany is considering deporting migrants to Rwanda, where it could use asylum facilities paid for by the UK.

Joachim Stamp, Germany’s migration commissioner, proposed using Rwanda as a third party country for migrants amid growing pressure on the coalition government to restrict and deter asylum seekers from entering the EU.

He suggested it could be part of a wider move by the EU to use existing asylum facilities in Rwanda, initially intended for Rishi Sunak’s scheme to deport illegal migrants to the East African nation.

Sir Keir Starmer scrapped the Rwanda scheme immediately after winning the election in July, with the money saved by doing so switched to creating a new Border Security Command to smash people-smuggling gangs using anti-terror style powers.

The UK has already spent at least £318 million to pay for asylum facilities and boost economic development in Rwanda, which cannot be recouped under the agreement with the UK.

Under Mr Stamp’s proposal, the asylum procedures in Rwanda would be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations. “We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda,” he said in a podcast by Table Media, published on Thursday.

Mr Stamp, a member of the junior coalition FDP party and whose position sits in Germany’s interior ministry, said this model would specifically target refugees crossing the EU’s eastern borders.

“My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group. It’s about 10,000 people a year,” he said, dismissing broader proposals from the conservative opposition to apply such a model to all refugees.

Members of the opposition CDU party visited Rwanda nine months ago as part of their new policy to process migrants offshore in third party countries.

Leading CDU figures claimed the plans would deter migrants from attempting to cross the Mediterranean and argued that countries such as Rwanda would be willing to make deals.

A spokesman for Rwanda told The Telegraph the country would be open to discussing an offshoring asylum deal with Germany, saying: “Rwanda has been very public that they are happy to work with anyone on this who shares their desire to find a long term solution to the migration issue.”

The German move has, however, sparked a backlash from senior Tory MPs involved in the Rwanda scheme while in Government.

James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, said: “Labour’s first move in government was to scrap the Rwanda plan. Now Germany want to use the facilities we built. The only people who benefit from Labour’s reckless immigration policies are people-smugglers and the EU.”

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, said: “Germany’s decision to adopt the Conservatives’ Rwanda scheme is more evidence of support within the EU of the need for a meaningful deterrence.

“That Starmer ditched the plan makes the UK look like a soft touch for illegal migrants, makes us now an outlier from other EU states grappling with the migration crisis, and is a waste of the vital work done to get the scheme up and running. A big mistake that Starmer will come to regret.”

Mr Stamp is seeking to amend EU rules so that Rwanda could be used for offshore processing of asylum applications. He suggested removing the so-called “connecting element” in the new Common European Asylum System, which currently requires external asylum procedures to be conducted in countries where the asylum seeker has a social connection.

In December, the European Union agreed on new rules to handle irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants, a deal hailed as a breakthrough after almost a decade of bitter feuds on the issue. It could take until the end of 2025 for the pact to take full effect.