UK says cost of deporting each asylum seeker to Rwanda is R3.9m

Britain's government said on Monday it will cost on average about £169,000 (about R3.9) to deport each asylum seeker to Rwanda in the first detailed assessment of a high-stakes promise to tackle record numbers of people arriving in small boats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government wants to send thousands of migrants more than 6,400km away to Rwanda as part of a deal agreed to with the central African country last year.

The government sees the plan as central to deterring asylum seekers arriving in small boats from France. Sunak has made this one of his five priorities amid pressure from some of his own Conservative lawmakers and the public to resolve the issue.

In an economic impact assessment published on Monday, the government said the cost of deporting each individual to Rwanda would include an average £105,000 (about R2.4m) payment to Rwanda for hosting each asylum seeker, £22,000 (about R519,000) for the flight and escorting, and £18,000 (about R425,000) for processing and legal costs.

Home secretary (interior minister) Suella Braverman said the costs must be considered alongside the impact of deterring others trying to reach Britain and the rising cost of housing asylum seekers.

Unless action is taken, Braverman said the cost of housing asylum seekers will rise to £11bn (R259bn) a year, up from about £3.6bn (about R85bn) now.

“The economic impact assessment clearly shows doing nothing is not an option,” she said.

On Thursday the Court of Appeal will hand down its judgment on whether the flights are lawful.

The first planned flight to Rwanda last June was blocked by a last-minute ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which imposed an injunction preventing any deportations until the conclusion of legal action in Britain.

In December the High Court in London ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision is being challenged by asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Vietnam together with human rights organisations.

Last year, a record 45,000 people arrived in Britain in small boats across the Channel, mainly from France. More than 11,000 have arrived so far this year.

Reuters