Sunak Defends Spending £2 Million per Illegal Migrant on Rwanda Policy as ‘Valuable Investment’
The prime minister said the government had made progress, but the National Audit Office estimates the scheme could cost up to £500 million.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists that the Rwanda policy is a “worthwhile investment” as the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that the plan could cost almost £2 million for each of the first 300 illegal migrants sent to the east African country.
In addition, they will pay £20,000 for every immigrant and £120 million after relocating the first 300 people.
Addressing the report, Mr. Sunak stated: “The current situation is unsustainable and unfair. Taxpayers are already paying millions of pounds a day to house illegal migrants in hotels across the country, and that’s not right. That’s why stopping the boats is one of my priorities.”
He mentioned that the government had “made progress” in reducing numbers by a third but added: “To fully resolve this issue, a deterrent is needed. We must be able to say that coming here illegally won’t allow you to stay, and we can remove you to a safe country.”
“That’s why the Rwanda scheme is crucial. It’s a worthwhile investment, and I’m committed to seeing it through,” said the prime minister, who is driving the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill through Parliament.
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The NAO stated that Britain would pay the Rwandan government nearly £151,000 per relocated person over five years to cover asylum processing and integration costs.
Rwanda has already received a down payment of £20 million.
The NAO mentioned that the direct costs to the Home Office of establishing the UK–Rwanda Partnership were £28 million.
Each Deportee’s Flight Would Cost £11,000
Other costs that the Home Office will incur include £11,000 per deportee for flights and £12.6 million for training staff over the next 12 months.
Critics described the “staggering figures” as revealing “the extortionate bill the taxpayer will have to pay the Rwandan government for an unworkable and inhumane scheme” and “the national scandal the Tories have been trying to hide.”
The government has already paid Kigali £220 million under the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund designed to support Rwanda’s growth, even as flights have remained grounded amid a series of legal setbacks.
It was also previously known that an extra £50 million was set aside for the partnership for next year. However, the NAO unveiled that the same sum would also be sent to Rwanda in 2025 and in 2026, bringing the cost to £370 million.
Moreover, once the first 300 migrants have been relocated to Rwanda, ministers have agreed to allocate another £120 million to the fund, totaling £490 million.
In addition, an extra £20,000 will be paid to Rwanda for every migrant relocated there, according to the NAO report.
The chair of Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson, stated: “These are staggering figures. Despite all the talk about ensuring value for money in the asylum and immigration system, it is unclear how schemes like Rwanda or Bibby Stockholm achieve that.”
“The significant initial outlay and ongoing costs raise serious questions about cost-effectiveness, even compared to high hotel accommodation costs,” she added.
Dame Diana continued: “What we are left with is a very expensive program the government hopes may act as a deterrent to those attempting to cross the Channel in small boats. Yet, there is minimal evidence for this.”
She added, “For a scheme which is supposedly self-evidently important, we would expect the evidence base to be much clearer, not presented piecemeal and worsening with each update.”
The Rwanda policy was first introduced by the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2022, but efforts to initiate flights have been hindered by legal challenges from human rights activists.
Is Rwanda Safe or Unsafe?
In November, the Supreme Court ruled the policy unlawful because Rwanda was not classified as a “safe” country and there remained a risk that genuine asylum seekers could be sent back by the government of President Paul Kagame.
In response to that setback, Mr. Sunak pledged to push legislation through Parliament affirming that Rwanda is indeed a safe country.
The bill is currently awaiting its third reading, and a Home Office spokesman recently stated: “Rwanda is clearly a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees. It hosts over 135,000 asylum seekers and is prepared to relocate people and assist them in rebuilding their lives.”
Mr. Sunak is anticipated to call a general election in the autumn and has committed to getting the Rwanda policy operational before going to the polls.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper commented on the NAO’s findings: “This report exposes the national scandal the Tories have been trying to conceal. Its shocking analysis shows that the costs of the failed Rwanda scheme are even higher than previously thought.”
“To send less than 1 percent of UK asylum seekers to Rwanda on a few symbolic flights, taxpayers will have to pay over half a billion pounds with no possibility of recovering any of the funds already dispatched. This equates to almost £2 million per person sent,” she concluded.
PA Media contributed to this report.
