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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lizzie Dearden

Revealed: Conservatives spent £134m on never-used IT systems for failed Rwanda scheme

Home Office Conservatives Rwanda Matthew Rycroft Priti Patel Observer
A protest against Rwanda deportations outside a Home Office building in Croydon in April 2024.
A protest against Rwanda deportations outside a Home Office building in Croydon in April 2024. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

The Conservative government spent more than £130m on IT and data systems for the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which will never be used, the Observer can reveal.

Digital tools needed to put the forced removal programme into effect made up the second-largest chunk of the £715m spent in little over two years, behind only the £290m handed directly to Paul Kagame’s government.

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