Overseas Aid Spending on Asylum Seekers in the UK Rose to £4.3 Billion

More than a quarter of overseas aid was spent on supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the UK for the second year in a row, government figures have revealed. Data published by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) on Wednesday showed that in 2023, £4.28 billion was spent in the form of “in-donor refugee costs,” equalling 27.9 percent of the total Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the year. As with previous years, the FCDO said the majority of the increase was “driven by an increase in ODA eligible support costs for asylum seekers in the UK.” Last year, the Home Office spent £2.96 billion of ODA, an increase of £559 million (23.3 percent) on the year before....