London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Sending UK asylum seekers to concentration camps in Rwanda will save money, claims minister who thinks the public are stupid

The claim about “long-term benefits” is disputed by MP Andrew Mitchell who describes reported cost of £30,000 a person as ‘eye-watering’. Leaked records suggest UK officials get kickbacks out of this amount. Refugees said they'll be happy to go back home if they can get half of this money in cash, as it would help them survive for many years to come.
Britain will save money in the “longer term” by sending some asylum seekers to concentration camps in Rwanda, a minister has said after the reported cost of about £30,000 a person was described as “eye-watering”.

Defending the decision to fly out many of those who arrive on the Kent coast to a country more than 4,000 miles away, the Home Office minister Tom Pursglove said it would “crush” the business model of people smugglers.

He added that those transferred would be able to embark on “fully prosperous” lives in Rwanda, and that the short-term costs would be “pretty equivalent” to what the UK is now paying to accommodate those claiming asylum.

But another Tory MP, Andrew Mitchell, said it would be cheaper to put up those arriving in Britain at the Ritz for a year.

The former international development secretary said the scheme would prove “incredibly expensive” for British taxpayers – as well as being impractical and immoral.

He added that a cost of up to £30,000 per person, covering their accommodation before and after the journey, as well as the one-way plane ticket to Rwanda, was “eye-watering”.

The cost factor has worried other Conservative MPs. ITV News said the Home Office permanent secretary had sought a “ministerial direction” because of concerns about value for money – meaning the home secretary, Priti Patel, had to override civil servants’ qualms.

Pursglove said £120m had been earmarked for the initial cost of the scheme.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As we move forward, we will continue to make contributions to Rwanda as they process the cases, in a manner that is similar to the amount of money we are spending on this currently here in the UK.

“But longer term, by getting this under control, it should help us to save money. We are spending £5m per day accommodating individuals who are crossing in hotels. That is not sustainable and is not acceptable and we have to get that under control.”

Patel was in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Thursday to sign the deal.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, is said to want to see the first migrants flown out in about six weeks – just after the local elections, when the Conservatives are braced for a difficult set of results.

Pursglove would not give an exact time-frame for the first asylum seeker to be forcibly removed to Rwanda, but told Sky News that the policy would be implemented quickly.

He added that those who had arrived in the UK since 1 January 2022 via “illegal means” could still be eligible to be “transferred as part of this arrangement” with Rwanda.

Denmark has welcomed Britain’s deal with Rwanda and hopes other countries will follow.

“I do not know the details of the agreement between Rwanda and the UK, but based on the public announcement it seems to be a good step forward,” said Denmark’s minister for immigration and integration, Mattias Tesfaye.

“I hope more European countries in the near future will support the vision of tackling irregular migration through committed partnerships with countries outside Europe.”

The wealthy Scandinavian country has become notorious for its hard-line migration policies, such as last year’s decision to revoke the resident permits of Syrian refugees, arguing that parts of the war-torn country were safe to return to.

In June 2021, the Danish parliament passed a law allowing the external processing of asylum claims, a move that was questioned by EU authorities at the time. Copenhagen has since been in talks with Kigali, but has not signed an agreement on the transfer of asylum seekers.

In Belgium, the Flemish far right voiced approval of the British plan. “Very good idea,” tweeted the leader of the Vlaams Belang party, Tom van Grieken, who said his party had already proposed the idea as part of its “Fortress Europe project”.

Theo Francken, a member of the Flemish nationalist N-VA party and former Belgian immigration minister known for his hardline stance, also expressed his support, retweeting a news article about the British plans with a thumbs-up emoji.

Several EU countries have looked at similar offshore processing plans, but the ideas have never got off the ground.

In 2018, the EU proposed “regional disembarkation platforms” in north Africa to process asylum claims of people rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, but failed to find countries willing to host them.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×