London, Thanasis Gavos

THE British government has paid in the current financial year 100 million pounds at Rwanda as part of the agreement to send irregular migrants there, in addition to 140 million pounds which were already given previously.

The amount, revealed by the Home Office to the heads of parliamentary committees, has been paid without the British government having managed to fly even one asylum seeker to the African country.

The revelation increases pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is trying to convince his Conservative Party MPs to vote next week on a controversial bill declaring Rwanda a “safe country”.

Main opposition Labor called it a “farce”, with shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper jokingly commenting that the Government had in fact paid £100m for each of the three Home Secretary visits to Kigali in recent years.

The plan to send irregular migrants and refugees to Rwanda is facing opposition within the Tories. The centrist wing is considering the possibility of a no-vote on the basis that it might be in breach of Britain’s international obligations, such as within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The right-wing wing appears even more negative, considering that the presented bill is insufficient and that it should repeal the ECHR.

The scale of the potential crisis for Mr Sunak was made clear by Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden’s statement that it would be “paranoid” for the party to change leader and prime minister before the election, effectively acknowledging the turmoil and behind-the-scenes processes in the party. .