Home Office begins identifying illegal migrants for first Rwanda flights as eye-watering cost of removals laid bare
Transport Secretary Mark Harper cannot give date when Rwanda flights will take …
The Government has started to identify illegally arrived migrants who will be on the first flights to Rwanda, Number 10 said today.
This comes as damning new figures have suggested that the cost of sending one person to Rwanda could be up to £230,000, with the total cost of the scheme coming up to £3.9billion for the first 20,000 people.
The PM's official spokesman said that an "initial cohort" of migrants who have arrived in the UK illegally were now being contacted.
The spokesman said: "We are identifying, have identified a cohort of people who will be the first to go on the flights.
Damning new figures have shown that the cost of sending one person to Rwanda could be up to £230,000
PA
"This was so that ministers were 'ready for the flights later this spring.'"
MPs are due to vote early this evening to reverse 10 changes to the Rwanda Bill by peers in the House of Lords. Number 10 said it wants flights to take off "by the Spring".
But a report from the IPPR warned the scheme was "exceptionally poor value for money".
They said the true cost could vary depending on how long people stay in the country for.
The UK has agreed to give £370million to the Rwandan Government over the next five years, as well as a furhter £120million once 300 people have been sent there.
The Government will also hand payments of £20,000 for each individual as part of the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF), in addition to £150,874 per person for asylum processing and integration and another £500 for healthcare.
The total cost per asylum seeker could be up to £230,000, the report claims - significantly more than the cost of around £53,000 to house an asylum seeker in UK accommodation for two years while their application is being processed.
But the precise figure depends on how long each person stays in Rwanda for. If all 20,000 arrivals left the country immediately, it would cost the UK around £1.1billion.
It could be as much as £3.9billion if they stay for five years.
Marley Morris, IPPR associate director for migration, trade and communities, said: "Aside from the ethical, legal and practical objections, the Rwanda scheme is exceptionally poor value for money.
"For it to break even, it will need to show a strong deterrent effect, for which there is no compelling evidence.
"Under the government’s plans, billions could be sent to Rwanda to remove people who have already arrived irregularly since the Illegal Migration Act was passed.
"The only winner from this scheme appears to be the Rwandan government itself, which has already secured hundreds of millions without doing much at all.”
MPs will vote this evening on 10 Lords amendments to the Government's Safety of Rwanda Bill.
Once the Bill passes, it is expected to clear the way for planes to finally take off to Kigali.
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Yesterday, Transport Secretary Mark Harper could not give an exact date for when he expects flights to take off to Rwanda.
He told GB News he "would hope we'll be able to get flights off the ground as soon as possible", adding: "I'm not going to pick an arbitrary date".
Harper continued: "I think the public wants us to focus on delivering on commitments, not focussing on speculation in newspapers."