Jul 31, 2026 11:14 PM
Labour paid foreign criminals £6.5million of taxpayer cash to persuade them to leave the country
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-1...untry.html
EXCERPTS: The Government is spending millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash each year paying convicted criminals to leave the UK, the Daily Mail can reveal. Some £6.5million has been handed out to foreign criminals between July 2024, when Labour came to power, and October 2025.
The grants, awarded under the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS), were given to 4,625 people at an average of £1,405 each, data exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail shows. The money is paid to 'encourage' foreign nationals who have been convicted of a criminal offence while in the UK to leave the country 'at the earliest possible opportunity' – some a whole four years before the end of their jail sentence.
The scheme was thrust into the spotlight last year after convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu was given £500 by the Home Office to return to his native Ethiopia. Kebatu, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in the Bell Hotel, Epping, after arriving in the UK on a small boat and claiming asylum, sparked a nationwide manhunt after he was mistakenly freed from prison instead of being deported.
After being captured by police Kebatu threatened to 'disrupt' his deportation, prompting the payment of taxpayer cash. He was ultimately forcibly deported by a team of five security officers.
Data obtained by the Daily Mail shows that between the day after Sir Keir Starmer's election win and the end of October 2025, the Government paid out £6,500,626 to foreign nationals convicted of criminal offences in Britain.
[...] The FRS has been in place since 2006 and, according to the Government, offers 'resettlement grants' in the form of 'financial support for reintegration to encourage FNOs [foreign national offenders] to cooperate with their early removal from the UK'.
The Home Office defines an FNO as someone who is not British and has been convicted of any crime in the UK. Criminals must apply for the grant, and are eligible to receive up to £1,500 if they make their application while serving a custodial sentence.
This drops to £750 for those who apply after finishing their prison sentence or who were not sentenced to prison time. Children of those awarded grants under the scheme are also eligible for an additional grant of up to £1,500 each if they are also returning to their home country... (MORE - details)
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-1...untry.html
EXCERPTS: The Government is spending millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash each year paying convicted criminals to leave the UK, the Daily Mail can reveal. Some £6.5million has been handed out to foreign criminals between July 2024, when Labour came to power, and October 2025.
The grants, awarded under the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS), were given to 4,625 people at an average of £1,405 each, data exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail shows. The money is paid to 'encourage' foreign nationals who have been convicted of a criminal offence while in the UK to leave the country 'at the earliest possible opportunity' – some a whole four years before the end of their jail sentence.
The scheme was thrust into the spotlight last year after convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu was given £500 by the Home Office to return to his native Ethiopia. Kebatu, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in the Bell Hotel, Epping, after arriving in the UK on a small boat and claiming asylum, sparked a nationwide manhunt after he was mistakenly freed from prison instead of being deported.
After being captured by police Kebatu threatened to 'disrupt' his deportation, prompting the payment of taxpayer cash. He was ultimately forcibly deported by a team of five security officers.
Data obtained by the Daily Mail shows that between the day after Sir Keir Starmer's election win and the end of October 2025, the Government paid out £6,500,626 to foreign nationals convicted of criminal offences in Britain.
[...] The FRS has been in place since 2006 and, according to the Government, offers 'resettlement grants' in the form of 'financial support for reintegration to encourage FNOs [foreign national offenders] to cooperate with their early removal from the UK'.
The Home Office defines an FNO as someone who is not British and has been convicted of any crime in the UK. Criminals must apply for the grant, and are eligible to receive up to £1,500 if they make their application while serving a custodial sentence.
This drops to £750 for those who apply after finishing their prison sentence or who were not sentenced to prison time. Children of those awarded grants under the scheme are also eligible for an additional grant of up to £1,500 each if they are also returning to their home country... (MORE - details)