The Devex Newswire (3 October 2024) reports that UK Development Minister Anneliese Dodds has said that the UK will keep diverting its aid budget to cover refugee costs until reforms are in place.

Anneliese Dodds, Minister of State for Development, image © UK Parliament 2024

Devex says that the practice pushed UK aid spending to a 17-year low and that the aid diversion totalled $4.3 billion / $5.8 billion in 2023.

The U.K. has chosen to dip into its aid budget at a level far beyond any other donor nation and there is no indication that this situation will change any time soon.