First migrant moves to Rwanda

An illegal migrant has become the first to be relocated to Rwanda after taking part in a voluntary removal scheme separate to the United Kingdom government’s deportation policy.

The man, who had had his claim for asylum rejected at the end of last year, agreed to be removed to Rwanda and receive a payment of up to £3000 (NZ$6400), sources have confirmed. The man, understood to be of African origin, was flown out on a commercial flight on Monday.

He became the first migrant to be relocated to a third country under the voluntary scheme. A source said: “This proves it’s possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly.”

Immigration enforcement officials were expected to carry out the first raids on Wednesday (UK time) to detain migrants before the first deportation flights to Kigali, which are due to take off by July.

However, thousands of asylum seekers are unaware of the outcome of their claims because their letters have been sent to wrong addresses thanks to an IT blunder, The Times reported.

The problem was caused by the Home Office using one system to provide asylum seekers with financial support and another to make decisions on their status. Because of the frequency with which they move, many asylum seekers have several addresses recorded in the system that pays them their £49 weekly allowance.

“People have received letters saying that their asylum [support] has been cut but they haven’t had a letter saying their asylum claim was rejected. So they’ve been sending rejection letters to the wrong addresses,” a Home Office source said.

The error explains why the Home Office, which last year processed 96,332 asylum claims, has been unable to locate thousands of migrants due to be deported to Rwanda.

A document said that, of 5700 migrants identified for removal to Rwanda, only 2143 “continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention”.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the remaining 3557 “will be found”, and Downing Street said that the Home Office “continues to have a wide range of tools” to keep in contact with asylum seekers.

Enver Solomon, of the Refugee Council, said: “It is no surprise that the government seems to have lost contact with people they want to remove to Rwanda.

“We know from our work with people who have fled war and persecution that they are incredibly anxious and distressed about the Rwanda plan and so will not necessarily want to stay in contact with the authorities. They will now inevitably face the risk of exploitation and abuse. The reality is that the government’s plans are going to cause a catastrophic system meltdown.”

Figures disclosed last week showed that in the first three months of this year more than 5584 migrants failed to attend regular check-in appointments with Home Office caseworkers, totalling 56,243 times.

The department plans to make use of a track-and-trace system established with police forces to find migrants who abscond.

A report by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford has estimated the Rwanda scheme will cost about £2 million per person if 300 people are removed before the election. _ – The Times