The British government has calculated that the plan to return asylum seekers to Rwanda will be costly – 169,000 pounds per person, writes Reuters.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government plans to return thousands of people to Rwanda as part of a plan to curb migration.
Sunak has made mitigating migration one of his top five priorities. The economic impact assessment, published on Monday, the 26th of June, states that
the costs include a 105,000-pound payment to Rwanda for the readmission of each asylum seeker,
22,000 pounds for flight and escort costs, and 18,000 pounds for case processing and legal services for each person.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said that these costs must be seen alongside other measures to reduce migration. If the situation is not addressed, spending on accommodation will soon rise to 11 billion pounds a year instead of the current 3.6 billion pounds.
The government has indicated that the potential savings are uncertain.
Labor Party said the plan is a “complete joke”
and does not give a clear picture of the total cost. The Scottish National Party has accused the government of spending money to deport desperate people while failing to help people in Britain.
The first deportation flight to Rwanda was canceled after an objection by the European Court of Human Rights, and a decision by a British court is now awaited.
Last December, the British Supreme Court declared that the return of asylum seekers to their countries of origin is legal, however, it was opposed by asylum seekers from Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, and other countries, as well as human rights organizations.
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