The UK government’s spending watchdog has revealed that Britain will pay at least £370 million to Rwanda as part of a plan to relocate asylum seekers there.
Each of her postings to the East African country will also be paid up to £150,000 over five years.
Labor has said the new figures in the National Audit Office (NAO) report are a “national scandal”.
However, the Home Office said: “Doing nothing is not without significant costs.”
A spokesperson said: “Unless we act, the cost of housing asylum seekers is set to reach £11bn per year by 2026.
“Illegal migration costs lives and perpetuates human trafficking, and it is therefore right that we fund solutions to break this unsustainable cycle.”
Under a five-year agreement, the UK can send illegal immigrants to Rwanda to seek asylum.
The aim of the policy is to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made one of his key priorities.
However, the project has been stalled by legal issues and no one has moved there yet.
The government has announced that it aims to introduce expulsion flights by spring.
A bill to revive the scheme has been approved by MPs and is due to be debated in the House of Lords next week, where critics will be forced to weigh in on the latest costs.
It costs £63,000 more to deport a migrant than to keep them in the UK
Under this program, the Ministry of the Interior has agreed to disburse funds into a fund to support Rwanda’s economic growth and to provide additional payments to cover the costs of processing and relocating people in Rwanda.
The UK has already paid her £220 million into the Economic Development Fund since April 2022, with a further £50 million per year planned for the next three years.
This equates to a total of £370 million over five years.
Ultimately he said that if more than 300 people were sent to Rwanda, Britain would pay her £120 million at once into the fund, plus for each £20,000 would be paid as resettlement.
In addition, the UK Government will provide up to £150,874 per person to cover costs such as accommodation, food and education costs.
If that person wants to leave Rwanda, these payments will be stopped and the UK will instead pay £10,000 per person to facilitate their departure.
The NAO’s report also indicates that the cost of setting up the system could increase from £20 million to £28 million.
Other costs are expected to be incurred in the future, including an estimated £11,000 per person for flights to Rwanda.
The NAO has not ruled on whether the scheme is worth the money, and the regulator says it will depend on whether it successfully deters people from entering the UK illegally.