The former British Prime Minister's scrapped plan to send migrants to Rwanda at a cost of 700 million pounds ($904 million) has been labeled as a shocking waste of taxpayer money by the U.K.'s new home secretary. The plan, aimed at curbing the flow of asylum-seekers across the English Channel, was halted by legal challenges and faced criticism from human rights groups.
The failed scheme included payments of 290 million pounds to Rwanda, expenses for chartering flights that never took off, detaining and releasing hundreds of individuals, and employing over a thousand civil servants to work on the project. The Rwandan government has stated that it is not obligated to refund the funds.
The current home secretary revealed that the previous government had planned to spend over 10 billion pounds on the initiative without informing Parliament. Despite the plan's failure, the number of risky small boat crossings is expected to continue during the summer months when weather conditions are more favorable.
Official figures show that nearly 1,500 migrants arrived in the U.K. via small boats in the past week alone, with two fatalities reported during rescue operations off the French coast. The Conservative government's argument that migrants arriving via the English Channel should not be considered genuine refugees due to not claiming asylum in a safe country they reached first has been met with criticism.
A deal with Rwanda was struck in 2022 to process asylum claims of migrants in the East African country, but the plan faced legal challenges and was deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Rwanda is not a safe third country for migrants, as they could face ill-treatment if sent back to their home countries.
