BRITS have paid migrants £74million to leave the country since 2021, bombshell figures show.
Last year £22.4m was spent on cash handouts under the voluntary returns scheme.
Failed asylum seekers being put on a return flight[/caption]
And 2025 looks set to go over that total with nearly £21.5m handed to migrants in the first six months alone.
Illegal immigrants are eligible for cards loaded with up to £3,000 to be spent in their home country.
Those eligible to apply include failed asylum seekers, those who have overstayed their visa and victims of modern slavery.
Foreign criminals can also get up to £2,000 if they agree to leave while still serving their sentence.
The Home Office stressed that prisoners were only a proportion of the total but were unable to say how many.
William Yarwood, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be furious that they’re coughing up to kick out foreign criminals.
“It always seems to be law-abiding, hard-working Brits who draw the short straw.
“The Home Office should put a stop to these payments and restrict spending to just the cost of a one-way plane ticket.”
It comes after ITV News filmed nearly 50 foreign offenders being flown back to Romania handed bank cards pre-loaded with up to £2,000. They are eligible under a scheme in operation since 2006.
Foreign criminals can be removed after serving as little as 30 per cent of the custodial part of their sentence.
Ministers say it saves the taxpayer thousands that would be spent on housing them in jail.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary recently set out that whilst we understand paying for individuals to leave the country through the Voluntary Returns Service is not ideal, it is a more effective and cost-efficient solution compared to detaining individuals or allowing them to remain in the UK during lengthy legal challenges against removal.
“These figures are a snapshot in time. The grants are reviewed periodically, and any unused funds are recouped.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently said payments to prisoners do not “look good” but voluntary removal is cheaper for the British taxpayer[/caption]
