Nigel Farage says government deal with Rwanda 'won't stop the boats'; Photo: SIMON WOLFART/AFP
Ministers are trying to “deceive” voters by deporting the first rejected asylum seeker to Rwanda, Nigel Farage has said.
The unnamed migrant was flown out of the UK. on Monday evening to Rwanda under a voluntary deportation scheme that is separate from the government's main forced deportation plan.
The man received £3,000, and the UK will also subsidize housing and employment support for up to five years.
A man of African descent whose asylum claim was rejected last year is the first migrant to be paid to leave the UK without returning to his country of origin.
'Don't be fooled'
However, Mr. Farage, honorary president of Reform UK, tweeted: “Don't let the new government fool you about the Rwanda deal.
“This African who hasn't even crossed the English Channel has been refused asylum , and he voluntarily accepted £3,000 – £3,000. free board. This won’t stop the boats.”
But Kemi Badenoch, the business minister, said the removal should be “reported” because it showed the East African country was safe.
She said: “The mildest cases will come first. I think we should trumpet this because one of the main arguments for this scheme was that Rwanda is not a safe country and people actually go there voluntarily. I know people who go there on vacation, many have been there.
“We need to get rid of many of the myths about this African country, which in fact is the leader on the continent in terms of what it has achieved both economically and in the field of law and order.”
She argued, that there is no cost-free option for protecting the UK's borders.
“If we had not sent people there, even at such a minimal cost, I would have been accused, for example, of the very high costs of keeping people in this country. There is no free option.”
Voluntary Return Scheme
The voluntary scheme is not intended to prevent further illegal border crossings, but instead reflects the existing voluntary return system, which allows rejected asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other migrants with no right to remain in the UK to return to their home country.
Under voluntary return schemes they can receive up to £3,000 in financial assistance to return to their 'country of origin'.
The new scheme is open to anyone whose asylum claim has been rejected, which will apply to tens of thousands of people in the UK.
Any asylum seeker who chooses to be resettled will also be eligible for the same five-year package of measures , which is agreed upon in April 2022 for migrants forcibly removed.
It comes as the Home Office prepares to detain the first migrants earmarked for forced deportation to Rwanda, as part of efforts to send the first flights to the East African country in 10 to 12 weeks.
More than 5,700 migrants have been identified as being subject to expulsion, but only 2,145 of them continue to report to the Home Office and could be detained, according to a document published on Monday.
The Home Office insisted that the remaining 3,557 people are not necessarily fugitives, but they are not subject to the same reporting restrictions, meaning they will likely be harder to track down for capture.
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