Under a policy of voluntary removals, the UK has sent the first asylum seeker who was rejected down back to Rwanda.
The program, which was unveiled last month, offers migrants who have their applications denied up to £3,000 as compensation for relocating to the east African nation.
It is not related to the government’s forced return program from two years ago.
The project, which has seen numerous delays, was supposed to start in mid-July.
According to reports, an unnamed man was flown out of the UK on Monday on a commercial flight.
Labour said the move showed ministers were “desperate” to get a flight off to Rwanda before Thursday’s local elections in England.
The scheme announced in March is understood to be a variation of an existing voluntary returns scheme for failed asylum seekers.
The scheme will also be opened up to other people with no right to remain in the UK, and foreign criminals.
The Home Office said payments under the current scheme “can pay for” temporary accommodation in the destination country, or education costs, or the cost of setting up a business.
According to official statistics, 19,253 people with no right to remain in the UK were voluntarily removed from the UK last year.
Of these, 3,319 received a “reintegration package” or flights paid by the Home Office.
Calling the announcement of the voluntary return a “pre-election gimmick,” Yvette Cooper, the shadow foreign minister, added that taxpayers were “dishing out £3,000 for a volunteer to board a plane.”
She said, “The Tories have now just paid someone to go because they are so desperate to get any flight off to Rwanda before the local elections.”
The scheme – which the government argues will deter future migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats – has been dogged by legal delays.
However, it is finally set to begin in the summer, after legislation to override a Supreme Court ruling entered into force earlier this month.
The Home Office has said 2,143 asylum seekers can immediately be located for detention in the run-up to their flights, as they are reporting to the department.
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