First illegal migrant paid to go to Rwanda
Spectator (UK)May 01
UK Sends First Failed Asylum Seeker to Rwanda
Image copyright: Leon Neal/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The UK government has reportedly paid a failed asylum seeker approximately £3K ($3.7K) to leave the country and relocate to Rwanda voluntarily.
The unnamed individual was flown to Kigali via a commercial airline on Monday as part of a voluntary scheme. This is the first time the UK has relocated a failed asylum seeker to a third country.
The Spin
Right narrative
The voluntary deportation of a failed asylum seeker to Rwanda is a symbolic victory for the UK government. However, with pressure to fulfill the promise of ending the influx of illegal migration ramping up, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must make sure that his forcible deportation policy begins to see similar success.
Left narrative
The voluntary scheme is completely different from the controversial Rwanda plan. Despite the UK government's best attempts to portray the deportation as a victory, the reality of the expensive gimmick is clear. Paying asylum seekers £3K of taxpayers' money for leaving the country will neither stop the boats nor fix the UK's border crisis.
Nerd narrative
There's a 10% chance that the Conservative Party will form the first government after the next UK general election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.