Only five failed asylum-seekers were flown to Rwanda at £74million

Just five asylum-seekers have been sent to Rwanda through Rishi Sunak's flagship scheme, costing the taxpayer an average of £74million each, it has been revealed. Despite claims as many as 52,000 people could potentially be flown to Rwanda through the scheme, fewer than half a dozen made the journey before Sunak paused the programme in May in the run-up to the election, according to The Sun.

The National Audit Office (NAO) estimates that the scheme will still incur a £370million fixed development fund by 2026 regardless, comprising £220million sent to Rwanda in February 2024 - and £50million for three Aprils thereafter until 2026. It also priced up the total cost of sending 50,000 people to the East African country at around £9.4billion - around a seventh of the cost of staffing the NHS for an entire year. Labour have vowed to scrap the Rwanda scheme if they do come to power, however, with The Guardian warning more than £320million could now be 'lost' if the Tories are voted out on Thursday.

Estimates on the costs of the Rwanda asylum plan - and the slow start bringing it to fruition - paint a bleak picture of the policy's 'successes' since April 22, when the legislation was approved by parliament after lengthy legal battles. The NAO believes the cost of relocating 100 people would cost as much as £434million - up to £9.4billion for 50,000 people.

In the year ending March 2024, there were 38,546 irregular arrivals to the UK, according to Home Office data . On top of the £370million fixed development fund payment agreed, they cite the £120million planned once 300 people had been relocated to Rwanda.

Development funds in the form of per-person payments are quoted at £20,000. And the cost of per-person asylum processing, operational, and integration payments is priced at £150,874 paid over the span of five years.

Millions are built into the estimates for staffing, legal fees and the cost of escorting people to Rwanda. Some £12.6million was expected to be needed to train up the escorts this and next year. The flights themselves were expected to cost £11,000 each.

If Labour is to scrap the scheme, many of these additional fees are expected to become redundant. But having only managed to send five people to Rwanda through the scheme, the agreed fixed fees mean the average cost of sending someone abroad is eyewateringly expensive.

The first payment of £140million was made in April 2022, £120million going towards the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) to support economic growth in Rwanda. The government completed its next payment in April 2023, costing a further £100million.

Two months later, the UK Court of Appeal found that it was unlawful to relocate individuals to Rwanda. In November 2023, it was judged Rwanda was not a safe country to send asylum seekers to through the policy. The government then passed a Bill effectively holding that Parliament believes Rwanda is a safe country.

After years of delays, Labour MP Neil Coyle jibed in the House of Commons in March that it would cost less to send six people into space with Virgin Galactic than what 'this government wants to spend sending one person to Rwanda'. 'Is it not time to rethink this absurd policy and extortionate cost?' he asked illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson.

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