Britain sends first voluntary asylum seeker to Rwanda - Sun newspaper

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary scheme, The Sun Newspaper reported on Tuesday, saying the unnamed migrant was flown out of the country on Monday.

The voluntary scheme is separate to a forced deportation programme that Britain is about to embark on in the next few months, seeking to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats to live in Britain.

As part of the voluntary scheme the government has said it would pay asylum seekers up to 3,000 pounds ($3,747.60) each to move to Rwanda to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the country in recent years.

This new agreement is part an existing government policy, where asylum seekers are offered financial assistance to leave Britain for their home country, but under this plan people will get the money if they agree to live in Rwanda.

($1 = 0.8005 pounds)

(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James)