Priti Patel could face Home Office mutiny over Rwanda asylum plan
Source: The Guardian
Priti Patel could face Home Office mutiny over Rwanda asylum plan
Unions say civil servants could stage mass walkouts after home secretary overruled their concerns
Jenn Selby
Sat 16 Apr 2022 15.56 BST
First published on Sat 16 Apr 2022 11.56 BST
Priti Patel could face a Home Office mutiny over plans to process migrants 5,000 miles away in Rwanda after overruling officials to push through the scheme.
The home secretary issued a rare ministerial direction to overrule concerns of civil servants about whether the scheme would deliver value for money.
It is only the second ministerial direction – an order enforced by a minister despite objection from a permanent secretary – the Home Office has received in 30 years. The first was to speed up the Windrush compensation scheme before legislation.
Civil servants could stage mass walk-outs in protest against the new plans, unions have warned.
Britain has promised Rwanda an initial £120m as part of an “economic transformation and integration fund”, but the UK will be paying for operational costs too. A set amount of funding will be allocated for each migrant, expected to cost between £20,000 and £30,000 a person for the flight to Rwanda, and the first three months of accommodation there.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/16/priti-patel-home-office-mutiny-rwanda-asylum-plan
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