Deporting to Rwanda is more expensive than staying in the UK

The cost of the UK Government’s plans to transport asylum seekers to Rwanda is estimated at £169,000 per person. This emerges from a Home Office document in London released on Monday evening. This is estimated to save between £106,000 and £165,000 in accommodation costs for those in the UK.

The figures prompted fresh criticism of the controversial plan, whose legality is due to be decided by the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday. Conservative MP Caroline Noakes complained that the government’s plan was ineffective.

164 million euros have already been disbursed to Rwanda

It is planned that those who entered the UK “irregularly” will in future be deported to the East African country without their asylum application being considered and regardless of their origin. No return is planned. London had already concluded a related deal with the Rwandan government in April last year.

A one-off payment of £140 million (€163 million) was initially agreed for this. Now the calculated costs come on top of that. The plans will also be supported by a proposed illegal immigration bill to be debated in the House of Lords on Wednesday.

Goal: Deter immigrants

The British government wants to use the measure to stop migrants entering the English Channel irregularly in small boats. Last year alone, more than 45,000 people came to Great Britain this way. So far this year, the number of people has exceeded 10,000, British news agency PA reported, citing officials. This is a decline compared to the same period last year.

The European Court of Human Rights last summer blocked a single scheduled flight to Rwanda with an injunction. (dpa/mig) Currently abroad