New Rwanda policy ‘a good use of public funds’, says minister Scheme would see migrants offered £3k to fly to Rwanda
Offering failed asylum seekers £3,000 to voluntarily move to Rwanda would be a “good use of public money”, according to a Government minister.
The Home Office has confirmed it is looking at widening an existing voluntary scheme for those who have been refused asylum in Britain to include Rwanda as a destination.
Under the current terms of the “voluntary return” scheme, migrants are offered financial assistance worth up to £3,000 to leave the UK for their country of origin.
Ministers are considering extending it to include those who have no legal right to stay in the UK but cannot be returned to their home country and would consider moving to Rwanda.
It is separate from the Conservative Government’s plan to deport to the east African country those arriving via small boats in the English Channel.
Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake told Times Radio that payments for those voluntarily wanting to relocate to Kigali would amount to a “good use of public money”.
He denied the offer would undermine the stalled Rwanda deportation scheme, which is currently in the middle of a parliamentary battle.
Mr Hollinrake said:
“£3,000 is a lot of money, but it costs a lot more money than that to keep people in this country who are here without merit.
“It is about saying to people ‘If you come here, you can’t stay here if you come here illegally’.
“That is the point. So I don’t think anybody would try and come here just to get £3,000 to go to Rwanda.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “In the last year, 19,000 people were removed voluntarily from the United Kingdom and this is an important part of our efforts to tackle illegal migration.
“We are exploring voluntary relocations for those who have no right to be here, to Rwanda, who stand ready to accept people who wish to rebuild their lives and cannot stay in the UK.”
The Government believes the voluntary scheme, which was first reported by The Times, can be brought into effect quickly because it will draw on existing structures outlined by the agreement already in place with Rwanda and existing voluntary returns processes, it is understood.
Labour accused ministers of “resorting to paying people” to go Rwanda upon realising their deportation scheme “has no chance of succeeding”.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said: “It seems that the Home Secretary is trying to find a way out of this hare-brained scheme that he himself has described as ‘batshit’.”
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which suffered 10 defeats in the House of Lords, received an unopposed third reading – although critics made clear their reservations about the “stinker” legislation.
The Commons will get a chance to debate and vote on the amendments to the Rwanda bill on March 18.