UK Provides Additional £100m to Rwanda for Asylum Agreement

The United Kingdom (UK) has provided an additional £100 million to Rwanda this year as part of an agreement to relocate asylum seekers to the African nation. This payment was made in April, following a previous £140 million that had already been sent. The UK's top civil servant at the Home Office, Sir Matthew Rycroft, stated that another £50 million payment is expected next year. This revelation comes after the recent resignation of the UK's immigration minister, prompting Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reaffirm his commitment to the relocation plan. The scheme, which aims to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel by sending them to Rwanda for processing, was initially announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022. However, legal challenges have repeatedly delayed the implementation of the plan, resulting in no asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda from the UK so far. Previously, it was only known that the government had spent at least £140 million on the policy, but Sir Matthew's letter disclosed the full cost up to this point. He clarified that the additional payments were not related to the new treaty signed between the UK and Rwanda this week, which aimed to amend the policy following a ruling by the Supreme Court declaring it unlawful. The specific allocation of the funds was not disclosed by the Home Office, but they stated that the money would contribute to Rwanda's economic development and growth. The payment was made when Suella Braverman was home secretary, although her allies insist it was approved by the prime minister. The Labour party criticized the revelation of these extra costs, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper questioning how many more unexpected expenses the government would incur. Chancellor Rishi Sunak held a press conference to rally support for his plan, asserting that the new emergency legislation would put an end to the continuous legal challenges surrounding the relocation flights to Rwanda. The bill requires judges to consider Rwanda a safe country but falls short of allowing dismissal of the European Convention on Human Rights, as some conservative MPs have demanded. The bill is expected to face opposition from MPs within the Conservative Party when it returns to Parliament next week. Earlier, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman expressed her belief that the bill would not effectively "stop the boats" and called for complete exclusion of international law. The responsibility of steering the bill through Parliament has been assigned to Michael Tomlinson, who was recently appointed as the illegal migration minister. He will collaborate with Tom Pursglove, the minister for legal migration, as they assume the divided role left vacant by Robert Jenrick's resignation.