Home Office officials admitted they were unable to find thousands of migrants due to be deported to Rwanda.
An updated document assessing the impact of the partnership with the East African country indicates that Rwanda has agreed to accept 5,700 people.
But in an embarrassing admission by Home Secretary James Cleverley, she says only 2,143 continue to be reported and their whereabouts are known.
Sources admitted to The Times that there is a high risk that they may flee now that the deportation bill has been passed through Parliament.
However, the Home Office said the remaining 3,557 people may not have fled but are not subject to reporting restrictions.
Home Office officials admitted they had been unable to find thousands of migrants due to be deported to Rwanda (Pictured: Migrants crossing the Channel on a small boat in March)
In an updated document assessing the impact of the partnership with the East African country, it states that Rwanda has agreed to accept 5,700 people – but only 2,143 of these continue to report.
The Home Office currently gives asylum seekers a place to live and an allowance of £49 per week per person in the household to pay for food and clothing.
The first deportation flights to Rwanda are believed to take place within the next 10 to 12 weeks, according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with the Guardian reporting that migrants were being detained across the UK as of yesterday.
All detainees arrived in the UK illegally between January 2022 and June 2023 – according to the Migrant and Economic Development Partnership document – mainly via small boat crossings.
It states: “Of the 5,700 persons whom Rwanda has agreed in principle to accept, 2,143 continue to report to the Ministry of Interior and their place of detention can be determined.”
However, she says some of them may volunteer to return home rather than board a plane to East Africa. They will not be able to request this after they are detained.
The Interior Ministry also warned in the document of the possibility of delays or cancellation of some removals by MPs who lodge their protests at the last minute.
This is because there is a long-standing parliamentary agreement that removals are suspended until the case is considered and a response is issued to the MP.
A Home Office spokesperson told MailOnline: “As the Prime Minister has made clear, we will be launching flights to Rwanda over the next 10 to 12 weeks.”
“In preparation for the flights, we have identified the initial group that will be flown to Rwanda and we have hundreds of dedicated caseworkers ready to handle any appeals.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further on operational activity.”
The passage of Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill through parliament comes more than two years after the plan was first announced.
Nearly 80,000 migrants have arrived via the Channel since Boris Johnson unveiled the scheme in April 2022.
But with the policy finally approved, an increasingly emboldened Sunak pledged to get the first planes into the air within 10 to 12 weeks – citing a string of figures as evidence of the preparatory work already done.
This includes 200 caseworkers to identify asylum seekers who will be given “removal guidance”, and increasing spaces in detention centers to 2,200 in order to hold deportees until they can leave.
Some 150 judges have been allocated to deal with last-minute legal challenges in 25 courtrooms, while an airport has also been put on standby – with 500 attendants already trained and a further 300 ready in the next few weeks.
The scheme would allow the government to send asylum seekers “who enter the UK illegally” to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed there.
Just 1,850 migrants were transported on small boats from the UK last year, a small fraction of the total numbers.
Refugee charities oppose the policy as unethical and impractical, and multiple legal challenges have delayed its implementation and significantly increased the cost to taxpayers.
