First migrant paid to go to Rwanda in voluntary scheme

The first person has been sent to Rwanda as part of a voluntary relocation scheme launched by the government.

Sources confirmed that it is not part of the main Rwanda plan to deport people who arrive illegally.

The unnamed man is the first to have voluntarily moved to Rwanda after being offered up to £3,000 financial aid and sent on a commercial flight to the central African country.

The voluntary return scheme was widened to include Rwanda as a destination earlier this year.

The Home Office confirmed in March that asylum seekers would be offered money to voluntarily go to Rwanda.

It is separate from the Conservative government’s plan to deport to the central African country those arriving via small boats in the English Channel.

The new plan was set to offer people with no legal right to stay in the UK but cannot be returned to their home country the chance to move voluntarily to Rwanda.

The news comes after reports that thousands of asylum seekers earmarked for deportation to Rwanda have lost contact with the Home Office.

Out of 5,700 people identified for removal, 2,145 “continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention”, a government impact assessment said.

The document, updated on the Home Office’s website on Monday, also acknowledged there could be further delays to deportations caused by MPs making last-minute representations to suspend removals.

It comes ahead of what is expected to be a testing set of local and mayoral elections for Rishi Sunak across England and Wales, in which the Conservatives are likely to suffer heavy losses.

The Prime Minister has made “stopping the boats” one of his five pledges to the public, with the asylum seeker’s removal seen as a signal to voters that the government’s wider migration agenda can be made to work.

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