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Migrants will be paid thousands to go to Rwanda under proposed government scheme

Failed asylum seekers will be offered the choice to move voluntarily to Rwanda under a new scheme proposed by the Government and will be paid thousands of pounds if they do.

The proposal is separate to the long-established government plan to forcibly and quickly deport illegal migrants to the east African nation and have their claims processed there.

The new agreement aims to remove migrants who have no right to stay in the UK – but are unable to return to their home country.

It will be aimed at individuals who do not have an outstanding asylum claim and are in a position to be relocated swiftly to Rwanda, which the Government deems a safe nation.

The plan will utilise the existing structures of the government’s orginal Rwanda scheme – which has been repeatedly stalled by legal challenges and in the Common and Lords since it was announced in April 2022.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “In the last year, 19,000 people were removed voluntarily from the UK and this is an important part of our efforts to tackle illegal migration.

“We are exploring voluntary relocations for those who have no right to be here, to Rwanda, who stand ready to accept people who wish to rebuild their lives and cannot stay in the UK.

“This is in addition to our Safety of Rwanda Bill and Treaty which, when passed, will ensure people who come to the UK illegally are removed to Rwanda.

Voluntary returns schemes allows migrants to receive financial assistance worth up to £3,000 to return to their “country of origin”.

If the plan comes to fruition, it would be the first of its kind because it would be the first time migrants were paid to leave the UK without going back to their country of origin.

It is understood, the Home Office considers the voluntary Rwanda scheme as a means to remove migrants from war-torn or authoritarian countries where it cannot currently operate return flights, such as Afghanistan and Iran.

Those eligible for the new scheme are anyone who has had their asylum application rejected.

Any who choose to be relocated will also get additional support upon arrival in Rwanda, The Times reportys.

They will also be reportedly offered the same package of measures as those agreed in April 2022 for migrants forcibly removed.

It means those voluntarily relocated in the coming months would get help and housing from the Rwandan authorities for up to five years, as well as integration programmes to help them study, undertake training, and work.

Responding to reports, Stephen Kinnock MP, Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister, said government ministers are resorting to paying people to go to Rwanda instead after finally recognising that their scheme has no chance of succeeding.

He said: “We know from the treaty that capacity in Rwanda is very limited, so ministers should now explain what this new idea means for the scheme as it was originally conceived, and they should also make clear how many people they expect to send on this basis, and what the cost will be.

“There have been so many confused briefings around the Rwanda policy that the public will be forgiven for treating this latest wheeze with a degree of scepticism.

“And all this against a backdrop of the Conservatives spending an eye watering half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money to send just one per cent of those who come to the UK in small boats to Rwanda.

“It seems that the Home Secretary is trying to find a way out of this hare-brained scheme that he himself has described as ‘batshit’.”

The announcement of the new proposals come as Rishi Sunak’s legislation to revive the grounded plan to deport some asylum seekers to Kigali heads back to the Commons where the Government will seek to overturn a string of amendments agreed by the Lords.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which suffered 10 defeats in the unelected chamber, received an unopposed third reading – although critics made clear their opposition to the “stinker” legislation.

Changes backed by the Lords include overturning the Government’s bid to oust the courts from the process.

The move effectively blows a hole in the Bill, which is intended to prevent continued legal challenges to the stalled deportation scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.

The proposed legislation seeks to compel judges to regard the east African country as safe in a bid to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Rwanda.

But the amendment agreed by peers restores the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of the east African country and enables them to intervene.

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