PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Asylum: Rwanda (13 June 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the cost of the flight to Rwanda that is scheduled to depart on 14 June 2022 would need to paid for in full in the event that no asylum seekers are on the flight.

Asked by:
David Simmonds (Conservative)

Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK.

Charter flight operations are an important means to remove individuals with no right to remain in the UK where there are limited scheduled routes. We manage the charter programme flexibly, balancing it with use of scheduled flights to best respond to operational needs. Costs for individual flights will vary based on a number of different factors and are regularly reviewed to ensure that best value for money is balanced against the need to remove those individuals with no right to remain in the UK.

The endless merry go round of late legal claims – which are often unfounded or without merit – can result in people being removed from flights at the last minute. However, our New Plan for Immigration will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.

Answered by:
Tom Pursglove (Conservative)
20 June 2022