The UK recently provided Rwanda with an additional £100 million this year in relation to its asylum deal, as disclosed by the Home Office's chief civil servant, Sir Matthew Rycroft, in a letter to

MPs. This payment followed a previous £140 million already allocated to the African nation. Another £50 million payment is anticipated for the next year.

This revelation came following Rishi Sunak's commitment to advancing the plan after the resignation of the immigration minister earlier this week.

The asylum relocation strategy, aimed at processing asylum seekers in Rwanda to deter Channel crossings in small boats, was initially announced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022. However, legal challenges have led to multiple delays, and thus far, no asylum seekers have been transferred from the UK.

Previously, the government had acknowledged spending at least £140 million on the policy. Sir Matthew had refrained from disclosing updated figures, citing ministerial decisions to outline costs annually. However, in his letter to the Home Affairs Committee chair and the Public Accounts Committee chair, he disclosed the current total expenditure.

Sir Matthew emphasized that these additional payments were unrelated to the new treaty between the UK and Rwanda, part of the government's effort to amend the policy following its recent declaration as unlawful by the Supreme Court.

While the Home Office did not detail the specific allocation of the funds, it mentioned that the money would contribute to Rwanda's economic development and growth.

The payment was approved during Suella Braverman's tenure as home secretary, although her allies contend that it was authorized by the prime minister.

Labour criticized the revelation of these added costs, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper calling it "incredible" and questioning the Tories on the total spending for a policy she deemed a "total farce."

During a press conference, Rishi Sunak urged Tory MPs to support the new emergency legislation, aiming to end legal challenges surrounding the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda. This comes after immigration minister Robert Jenrick's resignation, citing doubts about the policy's success.

The bill intends to consider Rwanda a safe country and provides ministers with authority to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act but stops short of dismissing the European Convention on Human Rights, a demand from some Conservatives.

The bill faces opposition from various factions within the Conservative Party in the upcoming Parliament session. Suella Braverman reiterated her belief that the bill would not effectively deter boat migration and advocated for the exclusion of international law.

The responsibility of navigating the bill through Parliament now falls on Michael Tomlinson, the newly appointed illegal migration minister, who will work alongside Tom Pursglove, the minister for legal migration. Photo by Dushime rw, Wikimedia commons.