Rwanda scheme ‘could cost UK nearly £5bn in first five years’ for 30,000 migrants

17 comments

1. Article Text –

   Rwanda is ready to take more than 30,000 asylum seekers in the first five years of the deportation scheme at a potential cost to the UK of nearly £5 billion, leaked documents show.

   The Home Office documents say that although the scheme will start in a “tightly controlled” way, the agreement is designed to “incentivise” Rwanda to take “higher volumes”.

   “Initial negotiations” between the two countries suggested “upwards of 30,000” migrants over the course of the scheme set to last five years, according to the documents.

   This would total some £4.5 billion as it will cost the UK up to £150,000 per deported asylum seeker, according to Home Office figures supplied to the National Audit Office (NAO).

   This is on top of an initial £370 million for the five-year Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) announced by Boris Johnson almost exactly two years ago.

   The disclosure comes as the two top civil servants in the Home Office, Sir Matthew Rycroft and Simon Ridley, will on Monday be questioned by MPs on the Home Affairs Committee on the value for money of the scheme and NAO analysis.

   The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which paves the way for the first flights, will also return to the Commons on Monday when MPs are expected to overturn seven amendments backed by the Lords in a series of Government defeats. Although peers may force a third round of ping-pong, it is expected to be passed by the end of this week.

2. So around £150,874 per inmigrant.

   Honestly, it would be probably cheaper to give them Universal Credit for 40 years.

3. Still immoral and doesn’t solve the crisis the UK is facing of not having enough immigration. The countries birth rate is not high enough. We don’t need this we need a robust system for immigrants especially asylum seekers. The issue is not with the immigrants but the system, that is just the lie Reform and the Conservatives want you to believe.

4. I’d be more incensed about the waste of money, but the deportations are never going to happen. The law is setup in such a way that any actual attempts at deportation will just be tied up in the courts, even the former immigration minister is openly saying as much.

   https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67674763

   The Tories don’t have the slightest interest in limiting immigration.

5. meh don’t see why we can’t let them in here when we already have 500k+ legal immigrants coming in every year.
   Give them the right to live and work here in the UK and they’ll immediately start paying into the state coffers via income/NI tax

6. Well this seems an incredibly irresponsible way to piss taxpayers money up the wall.

7. Assuming that’s 6,000 migrants per year, at cost of £1,000,000,000 per year, we’re looking at around £450 per migrant per day.

   A 5 day stay at Disneyland Paris costs around £3,200 for a 5 day stay for a family of 4, or around £160 per day.

   Throw in a 1 off flight to Paris’s main airport + shuttle to Disneyland and you’re looking at around £150 (it’s definitely less but argument’s sake..).

   This includes food, decent accommodation, Mickey Mouse, Pluto Donald Duck and the blonde lass from Frozen and power.

   Now I’m not saying it’s preferable to Rwanda, or that barge, but Disneyland Paris works out to *somehow* be cheaper than this God forsaken Rwanda policy that they’re **intent** on forcing through.

8. Yet neither the tories or labour can find 1.5bn for school lunches

9. £5bn would go a long way to clearing the backlog, which would mean less people needing to be housed, and with more money for staff and facilities, the process can be more thorough and we would likely see the asylum acceptance rate drop to levels similar to France.

   But I suppose being ghouls while funnelling money to Suella’s mates in Rwanda is a much better choice.

10. Let’s go. Brexit vibes. Everything will be better, just give away 5bn. And then listen to that horsehead again and life will get better as it did…:*

11. Sounds like a post COVID gravy boat somewhere in there.

12. How hard is it to stop people using the same rout daily, it’s not like they’re coming from all sides?

    When did you last hear of immigrants landing in Durness or Uig?

    Our dear leaders have no intention of stopping them.

13. I was reading Labours election manifesto and there were huge promises of using Counter terrorism to catch smugglers.
    End hotel use. Remove illegals who have no right to be here.
    Tories for some reason don’t even have a election manifesto yet(at least I couldn’t find on google).
    Does anyone know if any party has promised a robust scheme to remove illegals?
    Need to know who to vote!

14. or just .. you know … turn them back altogether and stop them entering

15. I came to the UK 19 years ago with a suitcase and 600£. Soon after came divorce and child care payments every month. Today I am halfway through my mortgage, working full-time for the same employer last 18 years, making decent money and never getting any benefits in my life. Yes, it was legal for me to arrive here but I knew from day one I had to count on myself only. And my English was basic only. It was your choice to close the doors to people like me here. Now we will all chip in for that 5bn together.

16. Do not worry you British people, most of the money will funnel its way back and trickle down upon you like a golden shower.

17. Does anyone at all, except Rishi, Suella and a few others in the cabinet, actually want or give a fuck about this policy? Even the usual gammonati et al don’t seem to give much of a crap about it. Just another money making scheme for Rishi and his cronies. Get fucked