The United kingdom has made an extra payment of £100 Million to Rwanda, which is meant to finance and enable the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda, subsequent to an earlier disbursement of £140 million this year.
The development was confirmed by Sir Matthew Rycroft, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the UK Home Office, who is also the department’s most senior civil servant, who was addressing the House of Commons.
He said that in addition to £140 million paid in April 2023, the UK paid Rwanda an extra £100 million this year, and it is expected to add £50 million in 2024.
The former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, first revealed the plan in April 2022 to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, to discourage individuals from traveling across in small boats.
However, plans to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda have been frequently delayed by various legal entities, and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK to Rwanda so far.
In a letter to the chairs of the Home Affairs Committee, Dame Diana Johnson, and the Public Accounts Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, Sir Matthew revealed the purpose of the treaty and cost of the entire policy.
“The treaty seeks to respond to a ruling by Britain’s Supreme Court that the deportation scheme would violate international human rights laws enshrined in domestic legislation. The Government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment in order for a Treaty to be signed,” the letter said.
Earlier on Thursday December 7, 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a press conference where he urged Conservative Members of Parliament to back his bill, a day after his immigration minister resigned over “strong disagreements with the direction” of the government’s immigration policy..
The bill compels judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and gives ministers the power to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act. However, it faces opposition from MPs in different factions of the Conservative Party.
