London: Britain has sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary scheme, The Sun Newspaper reported this week, saying the unnamed migrant was flown out of the country on April 29.
The voluntary scheme is separate from a forced deportation program that Britain is about to embark on in the next few months, seeking to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats to live in Britain, according to a Reuters report.
As part of this scheme, the government has said it would pay asylum seekers up to 3,000 pounds ($3,747.60) each to move to Rwanda to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the country in recent years. This new agreement is part of an existing government policy, where asylum seekers are offered financial assistance to leave Britain for their home country, but under this plan, people will get the money if they agree to live in Rwanda.
The British government last week adopted a highly criticized law allowing for irregular migrants to be deported to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government plans to begin the expulsions by July.
