Britain has paid £ 53m to immigrants to leave the country over the past four years, Independent Can reveal
Based on a voluntary return plan run by the government, immigrants can receive £ 3,000 as the motivation to return to their country, as part of what is known as “aid returns”. They have also paid their flights as part of the transaction.
Aid returns are on the rise in recent years, while 2,179 people travel home in 2022 compared to 6,799 people in 2024. Between 2021 and 2024, 13,637 people have helped.
In the UK, a person can qualify for a developing country if they return to a developing country, a failure asylum seeker, a confirmed victim of modern slavery, sleeping or having a medical condition.
In 2024, more than half of the foreigners who accepted the return on help were from Brazil, which received 3573. It was India’s second top nationality, with 915 people returned in 2024 and then 271 returned to Honduras.
The home office emphasizes that the voluntary return plan is a “much more affordable alternative to taxpayers” to pay for accommodation and support for those who are exiled from the UK.
Charity asylum affairs also said that a proper implementation system could be much cheaper than “expensive forced elimination”, but it can also lead to “better results” for asylum seekers.
But this calls for the support of immigrants by funding independent institutions to provide advice and assistance to those who return to countries. In 2015, the government canceled an independent counseling budget for those who intend to repay.
Luis Calvi, CEO of Asylum Matters said Independent: “When a dignity and dignity system is more cost -effective than the alternative option, it is clear that we need to have honest conversations about the amount of money we are preparing to waste cruelty and hostility.
“Such a system does not merely deliver a plane ticket and cash card. Without support for it, the root of the non -governmental institutions that are capable of independent consultation and aid, both in the UK and in the country, are effectively abandoned in the difficult situations they have fled.”
In March, Sir Kier was proud that the return of immigrants has reached the highest rate for eight years. He claimed that he “had eliminated more than 24,000 people without the right to be here”, but was criticized for failing to clarify those who had voluntarily left Britain.
The factors analyzed by the government’s preparation experts show that the Home Office of Pre -payment Solutions with a limited liability of £ 53,894,226 pounds from 2021 to February 2025 for voluntary returns.
Prepaid payment solutions with limited liability payments “versatile payment solutions including virtual and physical cards … for government jobs and institutions”.
According to the plan, up to 3,000 pounds is provided as a single payment card, which is only used in the country of returns, according to the recommendations of the NO Recise to Fund Public Network.
There are similar plans in the EU countries. In Italy, immigrants are offered 615 euros before leaving or immediately entering the country of origin and then given € 2000 plus € 1,000 for each family member.
Families with children under 18 are also eligible to support £ 3,000. If one accepts this offer, they are exposed to “banning re -entry”, which means preventing them from returning to England for a specific period of time.
How long this prohibition depends on the history of one’s migration and how much support for the home office when leaving them.
Meanwhile, Dolores Modern, a Latin American women’s rights service, said they have heard about Facebook groups of Brazilian society that they are sharing voluntary return information.
Modern Modern said her organization does not encourage voluntary returns because it is difficult to satisfy people for the process. “You can never be sure that there is real conscious consent. Sometimes they may feel pressured,” he said.
“Many Brazilians come here and do not know that they are not allowed to work, and they learn that after here, if they are exploited, their visa often disappears when they are exploited and do not know who they are going to,” he said.
“People also come to escape violence, and after they are here, they find their situation very difficult, and they may consider return as one of their options,” he said.
“We had a recent case of a woman who was in the home servitude of another woman, she had brought her to England for her job specifically,” she said. She found herself in a really unknown and exploited situation, and when she managed to flee the situation, she knew she wanted to return to Brazil.
A State Department spokesman said: “Since entering the position, the government has taken immediate measures to ensure immigration laws and apply. We have returned nearly 30,000 asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders without the right to be in the UK, a 12 % increase over the same period 12 months ago.
“Under successive governments, facilitating the voluntary returns of a much more cost -effective alternative to taxpayers is intended to pay for accommodation and support for those who are waiting for compulsory exile from the UK. To put this whole in the outlook, about £ 54m every six days at the Asylum’s peaks in the LUP.
