The Home Secretary has issued a rare "ministerial direction" to overrule concerns of a top civil servant regarding plans to ship some asylum seekers to Rwanda, it is reported.
It is understood Home Office civil servants raised concerns that the plan would not deliver value for money.
Multiple reports have surfaced that Priti Patel shot down those concerns and issued a ministerial direction to overrule them.
Ministerial directions are used when top civil servants raise concerns over the feasibility, costs or propriety of a proposal.
It comes as Ms Patel signed a £120 million deal with Rwanda to transfer asylum seekers deemed to have arrived illegally since January 1 to east Africa.
The scheme, designed to curb migrants making the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats and dinghies, has been met with outrage from campaigners and opposition parties.
READ MORE ON THIS STORY:
- Rwanda migration policy breaches international law, says UN refugee agency
- 'Cruel and inhumane': Campaigners call for u-turn on Patel's Rwanda asylum plans
- UK may send first migrants to Rwanda within 'weeks'
One Home Office insider told the Independent: “The asylum system is costing the taxpayer over £1.5bn per year – the highest amount in over two decades, and we are spending £4.7m on hotels per day between those who have arrived illegally and through resettlement programmes.
"Home Office officials are clear that deterring illegal entry would create significant savings. However, such a deterrent effect cannot be quantified with certainty.
“It would be wrong to let a lack of precise modelling delay a policy aimed at reducing illegal migration, saving lives, and breaking the business model of the smuggling gangs.”
The Institute for Government (IfG) think tank shows only 46 ministerial directions have been made public since the 2010 general election.
However, Ms Patel claimed other countries would use the asylum proposals as a "blueprint".
“There is no question now that the model we have put forward, I’m convinced is world class and a world first, and it will be used as a blueprint going forward, there’s no doubt about that,” Ms Patel said.
“I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us direct on the back of this as well.”
The Home Secretary said Copenhagen was in talks with Rwanda as well, adding the Council of Europe “have also basically said they are interested in working with us”.
The Rwanda deal has faced international criticism, with the UNHCR saying it “strongly condemns” the approach laid out by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ms Patel.
The UN refugee agency blasted the move as "unacceptable" and claimed the plans breached international and refugee law.
Assistant secretary-general Gillian Triggs also questioned whether it would act as a long-term deterrent, given Israel’s attempt to do something similar in Rwanda with Eritrean and Sudanese incomers saw the refugees “leave the country and start the process all over again”.
The Home Office denied its approach was in breach of refugee agreements.
A spokesman said: “Under this agreement, Rwanda will process claims in accordance with the UN Refugee Convention, national and international human rights laws, and will ensure their protection from inhuman and degrading treatment or being returned to the place they originally fled.
“There is nothing in the UN Refugee Convention which prevents removal to a safe country.”
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