Now bungling Home Office officials admit they can't find THOUSANDS of migrants set to be deported to Rwanda under Rishi Sunak's crackdown

Bungling Home Office officials have admitted they can't find thousands of migrants who are set to be deported to Rwanda. 

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 have 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 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with the Guardian reporting migrants were being detained across the UK from yesterday. 

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.'

However, it says some of those may volunteer to return to their home country rather than board a flight to East Africa. They will not be able to request this once they have been detained. 

The Home Office also warned in the document that there could be delays or some removals cancelled by MPs submitting last-minute representations. 

This is because there is a long-standing parliamentary convention that removals are suspended until a case has been considered and a response issued to the MP. 

A spokesperson for the Home Office told MailOnline: 'As the Prime Minister has made clear, we will get flights off the ground to Rwanda in the next ten to twelve weeks.

'In preparation for flights taking off, we have identified the initial cohort to be removed to Rwanda and have hundreds of dedicated caseworkers ready to process any appeals.

'It would be inappropriate to comment further on operational activity.'

The passing of Mr Sunak's Rwanda deportation bill through Parliament comes more than two years after the plan was first announced.

Nearly 80,000 migrants have arrived across the Channel since Boris Johnson unveiled the scheme in April 2022.

But with the policy finally approved, an emboldened Mr Sunak has vowed to get the first planes into the air within 10 to 12 weeks - citing a string of numbers as evidence of the preparatory work that has already been done. 

These include 200 caseworkers identifying asylum seekers who will be served with 'removal directions', and increasing spaces in detention centres to 2,200 in order to hold the deportees until they can leave.

Some 150 judges have been earmarked to deal with last-minute legal appeals in 25 courtrooms, while an airfield has also been put on standby - with 500 escorts already trained and another 300 ready in the next few weeks.

The scheme will allow the Government to send asylum seekers 'entering the UK illegally' to Rwanda for their asylum claims to be processed there.

Only 1,850 small boat migrants were removed from the UK last year - a tiny fraction of the overall numbers.

Refugee charities oppose the policy as unethical and unworkable, and multiple legal challenges have both delayed it from being enacted and dramatically increased the cost for taxpayers.