Campaigning coalition estimates ‘unworkable and cruel’ schemes will cost taxpayers an extra £2.7bn a year
A coalition of hundreds of pro-refugee organisations has estimated the astronomical costs of five Home Office policies to block refugees, which are due to become law in a matter of months.
The campaign coalition Together With Refugees, which is made up of about 360 community groups, refugee organisations, trades unions and faith groups, is publishing a report on Monday. It attempts to calculate the cost of policies such as offshoring refugees – with the bill running into the billions. The Home Office is yet to publish this information itself.
New large, out-of-town accommodation centres to house up to 8,000 people seeking refugee protection – £717.6m a year.
An offshore processing system to send people seeking refugee protection to another country to be detained while they wait for a decision on their claim, based on Australian government costings, which the Home Office said it is modelling its plans on – £1.44bn a year.
Imprisoning people seeking refugee protection who arrive via irregular routes, such as in a small boat across the Channel – £432m a year.
Removing people seeking refugee protection from the UK to another country if the government said they should claim asylum elsewhere – £117.4m a year.
Extra processing costs for additional assessments of people allocated a new temporary protection status, who have already passed a rigorous assessment recognising them as a refugee, every two and a half years – £1.5m a year.
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