UK sends first asylum seeker to Rwanda under voluntary scheme
- Migrant left the UK under voluntary scheme separate to the British government’s Rwanda deportation plan
- Asylum seekers are offered £3,000 to leave, to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the UK
Britain has sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary scheme, The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday, saying the unnamed migrant was flown out of the country on Monday.
The voluntary scheme is separate to a forced deportation programme that Britain is about to embark on in the next few months, seeking to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats to live in Britain.
Under the voluntary scheme the government has said it would pay asylum seekers up to £3,000 (about US$3,745) each to move to Rwanda to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the country in recent years.
This new agreement is part of an existing government policy, where asylum seekers are offered financial assistance to leave Britain for their home country, but under this plan people will get the money if they agree to live in Rwanda.
A government spokesperson said they were able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda under its migration and economic development partnership.