UK Home Secretary Reveals £10 Billion Plans for Asylum Seeker Deportation to Rwanda
- The UK government is planning to allocate £10 billion for the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, as stated by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
- This figure is a reduction from a previously projected cost of $12.9 billion under the previous administration.
- These plans have raised significant debate and concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers and the ethics of such deportations.
In a significant policy shift, the newly elected Labour government in Britain has scrapped a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was initially proposed by the previous Conservative administration. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed that the now-abandoned scheme had cost taxpayers approximately £700 million, with a total projected expenditure of £10 billion. This includes expenses for chartered flights that never occurred, government officials' work, and a £290 million payment to the Rwandan government. The original plan, announced in 2022, aimed to deter asylum seekers arriving in the UK by small boats by sending them to Rwanda. However, legal challenges have hindered its implementation, resulting in only four individuals being sent under a voluntary scheme. Cooper criticized the initiative as a "shocking waste" of public funds during her address to Parliament. In light of the policy reversal, Cooper announced that the tens of thousands of asylum seekers previously threatened with deportation will now have their claims processed. The government intends to eliminate a provision in the Illegal Migration Act that barred individuals arriving illegally from seeking asylum since March 2022. This new approach aims to streamline the asylum process, reduce reliance on costly hotel accommodations, and address the backlog of claims. Cooper projected that these changes could save taxpayers an estimated £7 billion over the next decade, emphasizing the need for a more efficient asylum system. She described the current situation as akin to "asylum Hotel California," where individuals enter the system but struggle to exit.