Failed asylum seekers to be sent back to Vietnam

Dozens of failed asylum seekers from Vietnam are to be sent back to the country on Wednesday, using resources the last government had earmarked for the Rwanda scheme.

The Labour government scrapped the plan, which would have seen some asylum seekers sent to the east African country, within hours of taking power, describing it as a "gimmick" and a waste of money.

But the government will now use a plane intended to remove people to Rwanda to send around 55 people to Vietnam instead, Labour sources said.

They are being removed under a returns agreement, rather than deported to a third country.

It will be the first time a flight has returned failed asylum seekers to the country since 2021, the sources said.

In the first quarter of 2024, almost one in five registered arrivals on small boats were from Vietnam - the highest number of any nationality.

The government has never disclosed full details of its contract to remove people to Rwanda.

But it is understood the resources allocated to the scheme are now being used for the Vietnam flight.

The people due to be removed are likely to have been in the system for some time, well before Labour took power.

A Labour source said: "The Tories had created chaos in our asylum and immigration system.

"Tens of thousand of people are in the system and being allowed to stay here in hotels or asylum accommodation forever.

"The Labour government has set up a new returns and enforcement unit, with up to 1,000 new staff to speed up removals for those with no right to be here."

Meanwhile, the government also announced the contract for the Bibby Stockholm barge, which houses asylum seekers off the coast of Dorset, would not be renewed beyond January.

The Home Office said the move was part of a commitment to clear the asylum backlog and fix the system.

On Monday Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons the Rwanda scheme had cost taxpayers £700m and resulted in only four people being removed to the country voluntarily.

The scheme was aimed at deterring people from crossing the Channel in small boats but was stalled by legal challenges.

Ms Cooper said by scrapping the scheme the government would save £220m on further direct payments to Rwanda over the next few years, as well as up to £750m that had been put aside to cover the scheme this year.

She said some of the money saved would be invested in a new Border Security Command, bringing together Border Force officials, police and intelligence agencies to tackle people-smuggling gangs.

The government has also redeployed Home Office staff from the scheme to work on enforcement and returning failed asylum seekers.

Labour has confirmed it will resume processing of all asylum claims, including individuals who arrived in the UK illegally.

It says it plans to return people with no right to be in the UK to their home countries.

However, the Conservatives have accused Labour of giving an effective "amnesty", by sending the message that "if you arrive by small boat, you can claim asylum".

Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly questioned how people who had been refused asylum from countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Syria could be returned.

He told the Commons: "Has [the home secretary] started negotiating returns agreements with the Taliban, the ayatollahs of Iran or Assad in Syria?"

So far this year, more than 15,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats.

The figure is higher than numbers for the same period in the previous four years, although in 2023 as a whole there was a drop compared to 2022.