Mr Badenoch said the fact that people who had failed in their asylum applications volunteered to go to Rwanda showed that it was a safe country.
Faye Brown, political reporter
Kemi Badenoch said the fact that unsuccessful asylum seekers volunteered to go to Rwanda showed that claims that Rwanda was unsafe were “false”.
The Commerce Secretary also declared that there are no “cost-free options” for border security and defended the “marginal” cost of sending migrants to the border.
The unnamed man was sent to Rwanda on a commercial flight on Monday after being offered financial aid of up to £3,000 to help with relocation costs.
He is the first person to move to the East African country under the voluntary return scheme for people who have gone through the asylum process and been refused permission to stay in the UK.
The voluntary scheme, which was expanded to include Rwanda earlier this year, is separate from the government’s controversial plan to deport people arriving in small boats across the English Channel to the African country. The policy was passed last week after two years of setbacks. .
Critics have branded the voluntary removals an “outrageous pre-election gimmick”, “failure to stop the boat” and a “fraud”.
But Ms Badenoch tried to portray this as a victory for the government’s far-reaching immigration policy, telling Sky News: “I’m delighted that finally one person is going to Rwanda.”
“Yes, this is being done under a voluntary scheme, but this also shows the point that Rwanda is not safe from being true because people are doing it voluntarily.”
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