The first failed asylum seeker has left the UK for Rwanda—but not under Rishi Sunak’s recently passed Rwanda Act. Instead, the migrant left voluntarily, and was paid to do so.
The unnamed individual left the UK on a commercial flight on Monday after being paid around £3,000 (€3,500) to relocate. This happened under the terms of a deal with the African nation that is separate from the new state powers set out in the Safety of Rwanda Act.
The Sun reports that the man, who is of African origin, claimed asylum in the UK last year but was rejected. He then accepted an offer to travel to Rwanda.
Former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said people should not be “conned” by the removal.
“This African man, who did not even cross the Channel, was refused asylum and has voluntarily accepted £3,000 + free board,” he posted on X. “It won’t stop the boats.”
However, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the deportation was an important start:
The easiest cases will be the first ones. I do think that we should be trumpeting it because one of the big arguments about this scheme was that Rwanda wasn’t a safe country, and actually people are volunteering to go there. I know people who go there on holiday, a lot of people have been there.
Last month, after much parliamentary back-and-forth between the House of Commons and House of Lords, the British Parliament finally passed the Safety of Rwanda Act which is designed to send asylum seekers to the African country for processing by declaring it safe.
However, there are concerns that flights under the scheme will be grounded by legal challenges. The Times reported last month that the FDA union, which represents civil servants, is expected to launch a judicial review, arguing that the Act’s power to disregard interim rulings from the European Court of Human Rights would effectively force officials to break international law.
In 2022, a flight to send asylum seekers to the country was cancelled due to an intervention from the ECHR.
The news comes as the Home Office prepares to detain the first asylum seekers for processing in Rwanda. However, as was reported earlier this week, only 2,145 of the 5,700 migrants identified for removal can be located for detention.
Officials insisted that the remainder had not absconded but simply “cannot be immediately located.” However, Home Office sources told The Times that the threat of deportation may now “outweigh” incentives of free accommodation and a £49 weekly allowance that are offered to migrants to stop them absconding.
