22 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Refugee Council has said that the cost of detaining and accommodating people under the government's illegal immigration bill could be more than £9 billion ($10.6 billion) in the first three years.
The charity said that the figure is part of an impact assessment of the bill based on the Home Office being able to remove 30,000 people and send them to Rwanda, detaining people for 28 days and accommodating others.
More than 190,000 people could be locked up or forced into destitution under the new crackdown, said the Refugee Council.
The government's Illegal Migration Bill includes plans to detain most people arriving on boats across the Channel for 28 days without bail or judicial review.
The new bill, if passed by parliament, will stop asylum seekers making claims against deportation until after they have been removed.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said: "We must stop the boats and that's what our bill will do. No more sticking plasters or shying away from the difficult decisions."
Last week, hundreds of people gathered outside parliament in London to protest the new bill and show solidarity with people seeking refuge in the country.
The UNHCR has said that the legislation would be an "asylum ban" and that it was "profoundly concerned" by the legislation.
Most of the people who will be detained under the new legislation are from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria and Iran, according to the charity.
