Migrant crisis: Rwanda flights cost £169,000 PER PERSON admits Home Office

Should all the 11,000 migrants that have arrived by small boat so far this year be deported, the report estimates this would cost £1.8billion.

It is suggested that under the plans outlined in the Illegal Migration Bill, the number of migrants crossing the Channel would need to fall by 37 per cent for the Rwanda scheme to draw level with keeping migrants on home soil.

However, officials warn that the daily bill for housing migrants in the UK could rise from £6million to £32million by 2026, which comes out at £11billion a year.

The cost of the Rwanda scheme is made up of £105,000 in third country cost, £18,000 in Home Office resource cost, £22,000 in flight and escorting cost, £7,000 in detention cost and £7,000 in Ministry of Justice cost.

Included in the cost is the payment made to Rwanda, which has so far received £140million from the UK.

The report then also factored in an ‘optimism bias’ of 9 per cent, as the reports do not include the cost of legal aid through hearing appeals.

The Government remains optimistic for Thursday, when the judges of the Court of Appeal provide their verdict on the legality of the Rwanda flights which could depart from September.

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, said: “Our impact assessment shows that doing nothing is not an option.

"We cannot allow a system to continue which incentivises people to risk their lives and pay people-smugglers to come to this country illegally, while placing an unacceptable strain on the UK taxpayer."

The estimation of £106,000 for keeping a migrant on home soil factors in the cost of processing and accommodation at £85 per night, supporting the individual for an estimated four years while their asylum claim is processed and any appeals are sought.

However, the analysis published on Monday detailed how the average cost to house and support a migrant in a hotel or alternative accommodation could rise to £126 a night in 2024, £152 in 2025, and £178 in 2026.

Such rises follow general economic trends and anticipate the additional strain placed on capacity and services, as the government must invest more to process the asylum backlog and source alternatives to hotels.

The report forecasted that the number of such individuals receiving state support and needing housing would rise from 114,000 currently to 185,000 by 2026 with the cost ballooning to over £32million a day.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance told The Sun: "Taxpayers will be shocked by these sky-high costs.

"At these prices voters will expect serious results when this scheme gets off the ground.

"Ministers must ensure that this project delivers for taxpayers."

A record 45,755 people crossed the channel last year.