UK braces for massive spending on migrants

The United Kingdom expects to have to spend 700 million pounds ($878 million) between now and 2030 on managing the arrival of migrants who go there to claim refugee status.

The money will cover the interception of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from mainland Europe and their initial processing but not long-term costs.

The anticipated expenditure was included in official projections published on the government's procurement website, as it sought private-sector partners to provide services including catering, security, and medical support.

The projections say people arriving irregularly, who totaled 45,755 last year, will continue to make the journey until at least 2034.

The opposition Labour Party's spokeswoman on immigration, Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, told the BBC the fact that the government expects to spend such large sums over such a long period suggests it expects its Rwanda policy to fail.

"This shows even the Home Office doesn't believe (Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak's Rwanda plan is going to work," she said.

"This is total (Conservative Party) chaos and it's letting the country down. Instead of sending nearly 300 million pounds of taxpayers' money to Rwanda for a failing scheme, the prime minister should be using the money to stop the criminal smuggling gangs who are organizing boat crossings in the first place."

The Rwanda policy, through which the UK aims to send a proportion of arrivals to Rwanda for processing in the hope that it will deter those who are not genuine refugees, has been highly controversial, even with the UK's ruling Conservative Party.

The UK's Home Secretary James Cleverly flew to Rwanda earlier this month to sign an updated version of the deal, which The Telegraph newspaper has said will cost the UK 290 million pounds.

And the proposed agreement will face a major challenge on Tuesday, when lawmakers get to vote on laws related to it.

The vote comes in the aftermath of the resignation of Robert Jenrick, the UK's immigration minister, who said the plan does not go far enough. Other members of the Conservative Party have said it goes too far and likely contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.

Grant Shapps, the UK's defense minister, said on LBC Radio on Monday he thinks the divided Conservative Party will end up supporting the legislation.

"The Conservatives have a plan, which is starting to work, and I think colleagues should unite behind that," he said. "I have no doubt at all that the House of Commons will be able to pass it."

Opposition parties are strongly against the legislation but will not be able to stop it passing, if most Conservative Party lawmakers support it, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.