Taxpayers pay migrants £35m to go home since Labour came to power under controversial returns scheme

British taxpayers have spent more than £35 million funding departure payments for over 20,000 migrants through the government’s assisted returns programme, according to GB News. Each individual receives up to £3,000 in travel and living costs to accept the offer to leave.

An investigation revealed that the Voluntary Returns Service officially recorded expenditures of £35 million between July 2024 and March this year, though insiders believe the total has since surpassed £40 million. The average payout per person stands at £1,964.

Brazilians make up the largest group by a wide margin, with 8,901 nationals accepting the offer over a two-year period. India was the second most common nationality with 3,629 people taking a funded flight home, followed by 746 Colombians and 468 Hondurans.

Low Uptake Among Small Boat Crossings

However, migrants from the five countries most heavily represented in Channel small boat crossings have shown almost no interest in the scheme. A mere 77 Iranians reportedly accepted the payment, along with 14 Afghans, 11 Sudanese, seven Eritreans, and three Somalis.

• Over 20,000 migrants funded through assisted returns
• £35 million spent between July 2024 and March
• 8,901 Brazilian nationals accepted the offer
• Only 77 Iranians and 14 Afghans took the payment

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp strongly criticized the government’s strategy, arguing that it fails to tackle the root causes of illegal immigration.

Labour are paying illegal immigrants to leave instead of stopping them arriving in the first place. They have found an expensive way to avoid the actual problem.

— Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, GB News

Mr Philp added that dinghy arrivals were being returned at a rate of just seven per cent and argued that conservative border plans would enable forced deportations without financial inducements.

Home Office Defence

The Home Office defended the approach by comparing it to the high costs of alternative enforcement measures. Officials noted that a single forced removal costs roughly £48,000, while accommodating a family of three in asylum housing runs to approximately £158,000 annually.

A Home Office spokeswoman told GB News that encouraging voluntary returns is vastly better value and saves taxpayers millions, noting that returns of those with no right to be in the UK are up by more than 50 per cent under the current administration.

The costs could escalate further following Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s decision to launch a pilot programme offering failed asylum seekers up to £40,000 to leave the country.

Original source: Read the full report at GB News