Damning MPs' Report Casts A Bleak Light On Impact Rwanda Plan Has On Asylum Seekers In Limbo

A crossbench committee of MPs has raised alarm bells over the Rwanda scheme and the welfare of the asylum seekers currently “in limbo” in the UK.

In a new report published on Wednesday, the Public Accounts Committee warned that there have been claims those waiting are at risk of self-harm and suicide.

The report said: “These people remain in limbo. Some people have now been waiting for over a year to be told what will happen to them.

“Many of them are living in temporary home office accommodation, where there have been numerous reports of self-harm and suicide.”

It notes that the home office is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of all the people in its care whether they are claiming asylum or about to be relocated.

The home office told the committee it undertakes screening to check suitability for room-sharing and has a signposting system for if tensions arise between waiting asylum seekers – but it did not provide any further details.

There is reportedly a migrant helpline for all asylum seekers, and the National Audit Office says room-sharing is primarily based around those who speak the same language.

The MPs’ report added: “There have been 283 incidents linked to self-harm and suicide which could in part be attributed to the home office’s sharing policy.”

The committee called on the home office to explain how it is looking after the welfare of those people before the end of July.

On the wider effectiveness of the Rwanda scheme, the report said the MPs had “little confidence”.

It said: “We are concerned that the home office does not have a credible plan for implementing the Rwanda partnership.”

The committee said cutting back on hotel use “drove up rental costs, increased homelessness and put unacceptable pressure on local councils”.

It even went on to question how the home office evaluates whether the policy is a success, saying it should explain how it intends to assess value for money.

The committee asked for all the costings and impacts of the Rwanda plan “no later than one month after the publication of this report” – meaning it would come out before the general election on July 4.

In fact, the report suggests the costly errors in setting up the scheme may have cost the taxpayer £46million more than if the home office had just stayed with hotels instead.

The MPs questioned the home office’s reluctance to offer more granular details too, including any specifics around potential deals with other countries.

And , though there are more than 50,000 people who are deemed to be in the UK illegally, the government has ben unable to say how many it will actually be able to relocate.

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