Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo declined to confirm the exact number of asylum seekers Rwanda is capable of receiving from the UK in a BBC interview on Sunday (May 5). The British government says it hopes to send some 52,000.

"We will be able to welcome the migrants that the UK sends over the lifetime of this partnership," Makolo said. "What I cannot tell you is how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year. This will depend on very many factors that are being worked out right now."

This latest announcement comes just two weeks after the British government passed its Safety of Rwanda act in Parliament and a week after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared flights would begin to take off to Kigali in as few as nine to 11 weeks.

Hope Hostel has capacity of 'up to 200'

In the BBC interview, Makolo said the only initial facility built to house the UK’s asylum seekers, the Hope Hostel -- which journalists have been allowed to tour -- has a capacity of just 200 people.

Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that some of the other homes built in Rwanda -- potentially to house asylum seekers -- had been sold off to Rwandan residents.

Makolo assured the BBC that her government had "already started initial discussions with other facilities around Kigali and further afield and these will be firmed up and signed once we know how many migrants are coming and when they are coming."

Makolo said reports that Rwanda was only intending to take 200 asylum seekers initially were a "misconception."

Details 'being worked on by the Home Office'

Transport Secretary Mark Harper also made an appearance on the same BBC program on Sunday. He declined to answer directly when asked whether or not the government had a backup plan if they were not initially able to send more than 200 people to Rwanda, reported the BBC.

Instead, he repeated that the plan was to begin flights in "10 to 12 weeks," and that details were "being worked on by the Home Office."

Harper added that the government hoped for a "steady rhythm of flights going to Rwanda throughout the year."

The British government last week was keen to underline that it had already begun rounding up some of those who might be on a list to be sent to Rwanda.

However, while the Home Office released a video on the social media platform X depicting at least two of these detention operations, it was reported that the Home Office might have "lost track" of more than half of the 5,700 asylum seekers it said it hoped to fly to Rwanda on the first flights.

Details of numbers from the Home Office have not yet been made public, and the Home Office has repeatedly declined InfoMigrants' requests for detailed comment on the policy.

'More arrivals last week than likely to be sent to Rwanda over next few years'

The Rwanda scheme is already estimated to have cost at least 300 million pounds (around 350 million euros) with further payments due when the first asylum seekers land.

The opposition Labour party, currently leading in the polls, has already declared it will not continue the scheme if it wins an expected general election later this year.

On Thursday (May 2) last week, a number of local and mayoral elections were held across the UK, in which the ruling Conservatives suffered heavy losses in several significant constituencies.

Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told The Guardian that Makolo's interview "shows that more people have arrived in the last week than are likely to be sent to Rwanda over the next few years, and the Conservatives are just trying to con people with their failing plans."

Cooper continued: "Today we heard a stark admission that Rwanda can only take a tiny proportion of people who are arriving in the UK, yet the government is spending half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money on this scheme."

Last week, it was reported that 711 migrants made it across the Channel in small boats in a single day. On Saturday (May 4), the news agency Reuters reported that "dozens" of people in two rubber dinghies had also made it to Dover. The news agency added that more than 8,000 migrants had now crossed this year.

UK government continues to work to get flights off the ground

British government data shows that 255 migrants crossed the Channel on May 4 in five separate boats. 104 migrants were prevented from crossing. The number of migrants prevented is a relatively new piece of information that the British government is releasing along with its daily tally of arrivals.

In the last seven days, generally the number of those prevented has been around half of those who actually crossed. However, on April 30, the data shows that 268 people crossed to the UK and 264 people were prevented from doing so. On May 5, some 54 people crossed the Channel and 218 people were reportedly prevented from doing so.

A spokesperson at the British Home Office told Reuters: "The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible."

The British government underlined that they "continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys."

With Reuters