THE UK has given Rwanda £100 million this year as part of its deal to send asylum seekers there.
In a letter to MPs, the Home Office’s top civil servant said in a letter to MPs that the payment was made in April, after £140m had already been sent to the African nation.
Sir Matthew Rycroft said a further payment of £50m was expected next year.
It comes after Rishi Sunak was forced into a desperate defence of his new Rwanda asylum plan as he fought to hold together a fractured Tory party.
The PM delivered a press conference the day after immigration minister Robert Jenrick (below) resigned from his role over the policy, saying it was destined for failure.
A vote on the bill is scheduled for next week and with Labour stating they will oppose it, it would take just 29 Tory MPs to vote it down.
The Rwanda plan has repeatedly been delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.
Until the latest announcement, it was known the Government had spent £140m on the policy.
Rycroft previously refused to disclose updated figures, saying ministers had decided to set out the costs annually.
However, in a letter published on Thursday to Dame Diana Johnson, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, and Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, he disclosed the full cost of the policy.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Hillier said the figures were only revealed after repeated inquiries.
She said it is “unconscionable” that MPs are expected to vote on the emergency Rwanda legislation next week “without understanding fully what the costs are so far, what they’re expected to deliver, and what the costs are going forward”.
“It almost looks like the Government’s got something to hide,” she told the programme.
Rycroft stressed the extra payments were not linked to the new treaty signed this week between the UK and Rwanda as part of the Government’s attempts to amend the policy, which was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court last month.
Reacting to the news, the SNP's home affairs spokesperson Alison Thewliss (below) said: “Whether it's ripping up human rights legislation or spending ridiculous sums of money to deport desperate people, it’s clear this rotten Tory government doesn't have an ounce of humanity.
“By pursuing this policy they’re ignoring the dire economic state they’ve dragged us into, the need for more migration into the UK, our responsibilities to treat refugees and asylum seekers with dignity and fairness, and basic common decency.
“Scotland should not be made to suffer while this morally bankrupt UK government ignores our unique needs at the cost of hundreds of millions. Scotland needs more immigration, not less. Scotland needs independence.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office would not go into specifics on what the money would be spent on but said it would contribute to the economic development and growth of Rwanda.
Labour have branded the revelation of the extra costs “incredible,” with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper adding: “How many more blank cheques will Rishi Sunak write before the Tories come clean about this scheme being a total farce?”
Meanwhile, Downing Street has said Sunak did not mislead MPs over the cost of the scheme as the policy attracted fresh criticism.
A spokeswoman told reporters that the original memorandum of understanding with Rwanda stated the deal “involves subsequent funding”.
“It was always set out that there would be funding attached to what is an economic and migration partnership. And this further funding was part of that.”
The official further argued the policy would bring down the costs of processing and housing asylum seekers in the UK.
It would “put an end to the unacceptable costs that we face in the UK, the £8m hotel bills that we face every single day,” she said.
Downing Street added that the extra £100m payment was signed off in April by then-home secretary Braverman.
