Ministers have been condemned after an asylum seeker was paid £3,000 to become the first migrant flown from the UK to Rwanda.
The Sun reported last night that the man was offered the chance to start a new life in Africa after his attempt to settle in the UK was rejected.
A Tory source told the paper: “This proves it’s possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly.”
However, the arrangement is completely different to the government’s controversial plan to forcibly deport migrants to east Africa.
Labour said it was a “gimmick” which would eventually cost the taxpayer £2 million as the UK is paying the man’s living costs in Rwanda for the next five years.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The Tories are so desperate to get any flight off to Rwanda before the local elections that they have now just paid someone to go.
“British taxpayers aren’t just forking out £3,000 for a volunteer to board a plane, they are also paying Rwanda to provide him with free board and lodgings for the next five years.
“This extortionate pre-election gimmick is likely to be costing on average £2 million per person.
“Former Tory Home Office ministers warned that the government’s plan was just to get token flights off before a general election. Now we know what they mean.”
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “This is cynical nonsense from a Conservative party that is about to take a drubbing at the local elections.
“Paying someone to go to Rwanda highlights just how much of a gimmick and farce their plan is. The truth is from day one the Government have cost the taxpayer eyewatering amounts of money and have failed to fix the issue.”
Rishi Sunak says deportation flights to Rwanda will finally get off the ground in July and will act as a deterrent to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Around 1,000 migrants have made the perilous journey in the last month alone, according to Home Office figures.
However, it is understood that the asylum seeker paid to move to Rwanda did not arrive in the UK by that method.