The UK has given Rwanda a further £100m this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.
The payment was made in April, the Home Office’s top civil servant said in a letter to MPs, after £140m had already been sent to the African nation.
Matthew Rycroft said another payment of £50m was expected next year.
The revelation came hours after Rishi Sunak vowed to “finish the job” of reviving the plan after the resignation of his immigration minister this week.
The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.
But it has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.
Until now it was known that the government had spent at least £140m on the policy. Matthew had previously refused to disclose updated figures, saying ministers had decided to set out the costs annually.
But in a letter published on Thursday to Dame Diana Johnson, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, and Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, he disclosed the full cost of the policy so far.
