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The £290 million that the Government plans to spend on the Rwanda scheme is “the right investment”, one of Rishi Sunak’s new immigration ministers has insisted.
Britain has given Rwanda an extra £100 million this year – on top of the £140 million already paid – before any asylum seekers have been deported to the central African state, The Telegraph revealed last night. Ministers also expect to pay Rwanda a further £50 million next year.
Asked about the costs of the programme, Tom Pursglove told Sky News: “We have always said that this is an economic and development partnership as well as a migration partnership and we think it’s right that we support the Rwandan government with the economic development piece as well as spending some of that money on some of the costs that are associated with getting the partnership up and running, in terms of the infrastructure, in terms of capacity building.
“When you consider that we are unacceptably spending £8m a day in the asylum system at the moment, it is a key part of our strategy to bring those costs down.
“So I think this is the right investment to make that will help us to achieve those objectives of saving lives at sea, stopping people drowning in the Channel, as well as getting those costs under control in a way that I think taxpayers across the country would all want to see.”
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