Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent on sending an asylum seeker to Rwanda on 30 April 2024.

Individuals who have no right to remain in the UK legally are being offered voluntary relocation to Rwanda under a new agreement with the Government of Rwanda. This will relocate individuals who have no right to work, rent or remain in the UK to relocate to Rwanda and allow them to build safe and prosperous lives there.

Individuals will receive £3,000 to support their relocation, paid to them on a card that can only be used in Rwanda.

This builds on our already widely used voluntary returns scheme, which saw more than 19,000 people return to their country-of-origin last year. We can also now facilitate relocation to Rwanda, providing an alternative for those whose country of origin is unsafe or those who would prefer not to return, but have no right to remain in the UK.

Under this Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Rwanda, individuals relocated voluntarily will have the same package of support for up to five years and access to integration programmes, so that they can study, undertake training, and work. Actual spend of the policy will be reported as part of the annual Home Office Reports and Accounts in the usual way.

It would not be appropriate to provide individual details of voluntary relocations that the Home Office has helped facilitate.