UK Paid Rwanda an Extra 100 Million Pounds for Asylum Deal

The UK has given Rwanda a further £100 million this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.

The payment was made in April, the home office’s top civil servant said in a letter to MPs, after £140 million had already been sent to the African nation. Sir Matthew Rycroft said another payment of £50 million was expected next year.

The revelation came hours after Rishi Sunak vowed to finish the job of reviving the plan after the resignation of his immigration minister this week.

The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-prime minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.

But it has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges, and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.

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Until now, it was known that the government had spent at least £140 million on the policy. Sir Matthew had previously refused to disclose updated figures, saying ministers had decided to set out the costs annually.

A home office spokesperson would not go into specifics on what the money would be spent on but said it was going towards the economic development and growth of Rwanda.

The money sent to Rwanda would help its economic development and get the asylum partnership with the UK up and running, Pursglove added.

The payments to Rwanda were not linked to a treaty the two countries signed on Tuesday, the interior ministry letter said.

The treaty seeks to respond to a ruling by Britain’s Supreme Court that the deportation scheme would violate international human rights laws enshrined in domestic legislation.

“The Government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment for a Treaty to be signed, nor was any offered,” the letter said.