Labour paid foreign criminals £6.5million of taxpayer cash to persuade them to leave the country

By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:40, 31 July 2026 | Updated: 22:46, 31 July 2026 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. Some £6.5million has been paid out to foreign criminals to leave the UK under the facilitated return scheme, including £500 to Hadush Kebatu (pictured) A still from video footage (above) which appeared to capture Kebatu in Chelmsford town centre asking for directions from locals after he was mistakenly released from prison October 2025 saw the largest payout at £590,913 to 410 people, compared to the lowest in January of that year at £291,277 to 211 people.  The figures can now be revealed following a Daily Mail fight to overturn a Home Office decision to refuse access to the data last October, requested after Kebatu's deportation. At the time the Home Office claimed the figures would be released to the public and were therefore exempt under Freedom of Information law. But it has since admitted it now has no plans to tell the public how much it spends on the scheme, in line with previous governments. 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. The Daily Mail understands only two FNOs deported in the time period covered by the £6.5million took any dependents with them. A 'discretionary' extra payment of £500 can also be paid to 'vulnerable' migrants who have committed offences, such as those with mental health problems, physical disabilities, pregnant women, and those who are elderly, sick or homeless. Kebatu pictured on the plane to Ethiopia as he is forcibly deported - despite indicating he would co-operate after being paid £500 by the Home Office At the time of Kebatu's deportation it was reported he had been given a 'discretionary' payment of £500. It is unclear what, if any of these criteria applied to him.  He was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford instead of being handed to deportation officials in October, and was on the run for three days before being detained. Kebatu's trial was told it was his 'firm wish' to return to Ethiopia, but after being recaptured he reportedly threatened to 'disrupt' his deportation. He signalled he could launch a legal challenge against his removal and even said he was considering lodging a new asylum claim with the Home Office. After indicating he would go quietly in exchange for the £500 he was awarded, his compliance further deteriorated and Kebatu was forcibly deported from Britain by a team of five security escorts. The Home Office stresses that payments under the scheme are designed to ensure more voluntary returns among criminals to go back to their home countries. It said that this saves large amounts of money for the taxpayer that would otherwise be spent housing criminals in British jails or fighting appeals against their deportations. Criminals can be deported up to four years before the end of their custodial sentence in some cases. Government figures from 2023-2024 show the average cost of housing a prisoner each year in jail is £53,801. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We know that paying for foreign national offenders to leave the country through the Facilitated Returns Service is not ideal, but by saving taxpayers up to £215,000 per offender, the service is a more cost-efficient solution compared to imprisonment, or lengthy legal challenges against removal. 'Nearly 70,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been returned since the election, a 41 per cent increase on the 21-months prior. Removals of foreign national offenders including murderers and rapists are up by 36 per cent, with nearly 10,000 returned since the last election.'