Failed UK asylum seekers to be offered £3,000 to enable them relocate to Rwanda

FAILED asylum seekers whose applications to remain in the UK get refused and who are subsequently sent to Rwanda are to be offered a sum of up to £3,000 to enable them move under a new voluntary scheme.

This audacious plan is understood to be a variation of an existing voluntary returns scheme, where failed asylum seekers receive cash to return to their home country. It will be open to anyone whose asylum claim has been rejected by the UK and in particular it is aimed at those who cannot return to their home countries.

Business minister Kevin Hollinrake said payments for those agreeing to relocate to Rwanda would amount to a good use of public money. He added: "It costs a lot more money than that to keep people in this country who are out here without merit.

"It is about saying to people if you come here, you can't stay here if you come here illegally. That is the point, so I don't think anybody would try and come here just to get £3,000 to go to Rwanda."

Britain's government is already trying to implement a separate scheme under which people deemed to have arrived illegally in the UK would be sent to Rwanda. That plan, however, has been blocked by the courts, which raised concerns about Rwanda's safety.

In order to overcome those objections, the British government is currently trying to pass its Safety of Rwanda Bill, which would deem the East African country to be a safe place. However, unlike that scheme, this new arrangement would be voluntary and therefore not dependent on the bill being approved by Parliament.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Voluntary returns are 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.".

There is no date for when the first people would be relocated under the scheme and no set figure on the number of people who may choose to take part in it. According to official statistics, 19,253 people were voluntarily removed from the UK last year and of these, 3,319 received a reintegration package or flights paid by the Home Office - the highest number since 2010.

Labour's shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said: "Even government ministers are finally recognising that their Rwanda scheme has no chance of succeeding, so they're resorting to paying people to go there instead. Rwanda has very limited capacity for accepting people and the government should make clear how many people they expect to send on this basis and what the cost will be."