Britain paid an additional 100 million pounds ($126 million) to Rwanda in April, supplementing the earlier 140 million pounds, as the costs for its controversial plan to relocate asylum seekers to the East African country continue to escalate.
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s aims to discourage illegal migration with the Rwanda scheme.
- Legal challenges have prevented any relocation since the plan was announced in 2022.
- On top of the 240 million pounds Britain has sent to Rwanda, London is also set to pay an additional 50 million pounds next year.
The Rwanda scheme is a focal point of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s strategy to discourage illegal migration. However, legal challenges have prevented any relocation since the plan was announced in 2022, Reuters reported.
The contentious policy has evolved into a potential threat to Sunak’s leadership, particularly with an upcoming election expected next year.
According to a letter from the Home Office to committee chairs, ministers expect additional costs of £50m next year, which would bring the total to £290m.
The revelations about the growing cost of a policy – which legal experts have warned could yet fail – was slammed by the opposition Labour party and will likely draw fresh criticism from some lawmakers within Sunak’s party.
The new minister for legal migration, Tom Pursglove, justified what he called the 240 million-pound “investment” on Friday, saying that once the Rwanda policy was up and running it would save on the cost of housing asylum-seekers in the UK.
“When you consider that we are unacceptably spending 8 million pounds a day in the asylum system at the moment, it is a key part of our strategy to bring those costs down,” Pursglove told Sky News.
Pursglove added that the funds sent to Rwanda would contribute to its economic development and facilitate the initiation of the asylum partnership with the UK.
The payments made to Rwanda were clarified in the interior ministry letter, stating that they were not directly associated with a treaty signed by the two countries on Tuesday.
The purpose of the treaty is to address a ruling by Britain’s Supreme Court, which found that the deportation scheme would violate international human rights laws enshrined in domestic legislation.
“The Government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment in order for a Treaty to be signed, nor was any offered,” the letter said.
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