On Tuesday British media reported that Britain has sent a first asylum seeker to Rwanda as part of a controversial but voluntary scheme for irregular migrants whose applications have been rejected.
Last week the British government adopted a criticised law allowing for irregular migrants to be exiled to Rwanda. By July Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government plans to start the expulsions.
But the man who left the UK on Monday had agreed to be sent to Kigali following his asylum rejection at the end of last year according to the media reports.
The African national left on a commercial flight. In exchange for his agreement to leave Britain, he is due to receive up to £3,000 ($3,750), as per the government sources.
A Government spokesperson said, ‘We are now able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda under our migration and economic development partnership’.
This deal allows people with no immigration status in the UK to be relocated to a safe third country where they will be supported to rebuild their lives.
On Tuesday the British government said it expects to deport 5,700 migrants to Rwanda in 2024 in the scheme aimed at deterring migrant arrivals on small boats from northern Europe
As per official statistics, more than 57,000 people arrived on small boats after trying to cross the Channel between January 2022 and June last year.
Comments