Transparency data

Breakdown of Home Office costs associated with the MEDP with Rwanda and the Illegal Migration Act 2023

Published 2 December 2024

Background

In April 2022, the previous government announced the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with the Government of Rwanda (GoR). The partnership fell under the previous government’s third country asylum processing policy, which stated that individuals who entered the UK via an irregular route, or sought asylum after arriving via an irregular route, would be relocated to a safe third country. Under the partnership, the UK provided development funding to Rwanda and would have met processing and integration costs for each relocated person.

The Home Office was responsible for administering the partnership, which was agreed to run until April 2027. During more than 2 years in which the policy and partnership operated, only four volunteers and no asylum seekers were sent to Rwanda.

There are two types of payments to the Government of Rwanda under the MEDP.

These are:  

1. Payments to the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF), which were designed to support economic growth in Rwanda. These are fixed cash payments and were due while the agreement was in force. A further £100 million of ETIF payments would have been due under the Treaty, £50 million in each of the next two financial years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027. In addition, the Home Office was liable to pay ‘volume trigger’ ETIF payment of £120 million upon the transfer of 300 people to Rwanda. A per person ETIF payment would also have been made at £20,000 per person.

2. Payments to cover asylum processing and operational costs for individuals relocated to Rwanda. The Home Office agreed to pay a five-year integration package for each relocated person, which covers accommodation, essential items such as food, medical services, education and other integration programmes. These payments can potentially last for five years and total £150,874 per individual, with the total annual payment decreasing over the five-year period:

• Year 1: £45,262 (this includes £11,000 for the asylum assessment)
• Year 2: £37,718
• Year 3: £30,175
• Year 4: £22,632
• Year 5: £15,087

Under the agreement, if a relocated individual decided to leave Rwanda, the UK would stop payments for that individual but would pay the Government of Rwanda a one-off £10,000 per individual to help facilitate their voluntary departure.  

In addition to the payments to the Government of Rwanda, the Home Office also incurred costs for the implementation of the MEDP. The main costs related to staffing to deliver the Illegal Migration Act (IMA) and MEDP, the flights and escorting costs and the investment in reception centres and detention capacity. There were also costs of supporting arrivals ahead of relocation.

Spend to date on the MEDP and IMA

The table below shows the total Home Office spend to date on the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) and the IMA up until June 2024 - £715 million.

To note, whilst ETIF payments already made to the Government of Rwanda under the MEDP are not recoverable under the terms of the Treaty, we are working to secure the best value for money from spending on capacity that can still be deployed on current priorities.

Table 1: Home Office spend on the MEDP and the IMA

Spend (millions)*	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025**	Total
Payments to Rwanda	140	100	50	290
Flights, escorting, airfield and impacted police force	0	30	20	50
Fixed detention and reception centre investment	0	85	10	95
Other fixed costs	0	235	45	280
Total	140	450	125	715

*Figures to nearest £5 million

**to June 2024

Payments to Rwanda 

Under the MEDP with Rwanda, the previous government agreed to make fixed payments into the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF). These payments were intended to support economic development in Rwanda and were independent of the number of people relocated there. A total of £270 million has been paid into the ETIF. This breaks down as £120 million in April 2022, £100 million in April 2023 and £50 million in April 2024.  

In addition to the payments into the ETIF, the previous government agreed to make payments to Rwanda to cover the asylum processing and operational costs for each individual relocated. In April 2022, a one-off advance payment of £20 million was made for advance operational costs. This brings the total spent with Rwanda to £290 million. 

Over £220 million in scheduled future payments will not have to be paid due to the partnership ending. This is saved by not having to pay the scheduled payments of £50 million in April 2025, £50 million in April 2026 and £120 million after the first 300 individuals had been relocated.

Flights, escorting, airfield and impacted police force 

This relates to the direct costs associated with the MEDP with Rwanda, including:

• the costs to secure flights
• the costs of escorts
• the costs to prepare the airfield for the MEDP flights
• police force costs to secure the airfield

Fixed detention and reception centre investment  

This relates to:

• the investment to optimise capacity within the existing detention estate
• options to increase detention capacity

Other fixed costs  

These include:

• the costs incurred to design and develop the digital, IT and data systems required to operationalise the MEDP and IMA
• legal costs and the cost of staff working directly on both of these policies