First asylum-seeker is deported to Rwanda under Rishi Sunak's migrant crackdown: African man is handed £3k of taxpayers' money and flown to Kigali after losing bid to stay in Britain

The first asylum seeker has been deported to Rwanda under Rishi Sunak's migrant crackdown. 

The migrant, whose name is unknown, was flown out of the UK yesterday evening and arrived in Kigali. 

He was put on a commercial flight and given around £3,000 from the British taxpayer to help relocate under the terms of a deal with Rwanda. 

It marks the first time the government has relocated a failed asylum seeker to a third world country. 

The man's attempt to stay in Britain was rejected at the end of 2023, before he accepted the offer to start a new life in the central African nation. 

A source told The Sun: 'This proves it's possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly.'

In March, The Home Office confirmed the voluntary relocation plan for those found in Britain without the right to be here. 

In 2023, 19,000 failed asylum seekers were voluntarily taken out of the UK, after being told they would never be granted the rights of legal migrants. 

There are still tens of thousands of migrants in the system who cannot be sent back to their home countries.  

Ministers said it is cheaper to send migrants to Rwanda than to support them in Britain, even after giving them money and flights. 

Bungling Home Office officials reportedly admitted they can't find thousands of migrants who are set to be deported to Rwanda, it was reported yesterday. 

An updated document assessing the impact of the partnership with the east African country states that Rwanda has agreed to accept 5,700 people.

But in an embarrassing admission by the Home Secretary James Cleverly's department, it says only 2,143 continue to report and their whereabouts are known.

Sources admitted to The Times that there was significant risk that they could have absconded now that the deportation bill has passed through Parliament.

However, the Home Office has said that the remaining 3,557 people may not have absconded but are not subject to reporting restrictions.

The Home Office currently gives those seeking asylum somewhere to live and a £49 a week allowance, for each person in a household, to pay for food and clothes.

It is thought the first deportation flights to Rwanda will take off in the next 10 to 12 weeks, according to the Prime Minister, with the Guardian reporting migrants were being detained across the UK from Sunday. 

Those who are being detained have all arrived in the UK illegally between January 2022 and June 2023 - according to the Migrant and Economic Development Partnership document - mainly by small boat Channel crossings.

It states: 'Of the 5,700 people Rwanda has in principle agreed to accept, 2,143 continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention.'

Meanwhile, migrants living in Dublin's tent city today thanked Mr Sunak for refusing to allow them back to Britain - because they 'don't want to go to Rwanda'.

Around 1,700 asylum seekers are living in tents in the Irish capital after crossing the border over fears that they would be sent to Rwanda if they stayed in Northern Ireland.

Mr Sunak yesterday declared he is 'not interested' in taking back migrants from Ireland - when the EU was refusing to take back Channel migrants who came from France.