Asylum seeker waiting to go to Rwanda says he will kill himself
A Syrian asylum seeker who is awaiting deportation to Rwanda has threatened to kill himself as soon as he gets there because he ‘will not be safe’ there.
The man arrived in Britain in June 2022 and is currently being held at the Colnbrook immigration removal centre in West Drayton.
He claimed being locked up was ‘very triggering’ because he had previously been imprisoned in Syria and ‘detained and tortured in Libya’.
‘Everyone is so stressed in here because of Rwanda. We can’t eat and we can’t sleep,’ he told the Guardian.
‘What matters to asylum seekers is to be safe. I will not be safe in Rwanda. If they manage to send me there I will kill myself on arrival in that country.’
The man arrived in Britain in June 2022 and is currently being held at the Colnbrook immigration removal centre in West Drayton
Migrants cross the Channel in an overcrowded dinghy on Saturday
The Syrian, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he became ‘very scared’ after finding out about the Rwanda scheme in February 2023.
A second asylum seeker, from Sudan, said he was detained in Libya before paying his captors to free him and arriving in the UK in June 2022.
READ MORE – Migrants pitch dozens of tents along the banks of Dublin’s Grand Canal just days after hundreds were evicted from ‘shanty town’ amid row over asylum seekers crossing the border to avoid Rwanda
He said: ‘I was arrested last week when I went to report in Newcastle. They didn’t mention Rwanda until I reached the detention centre and at first just said ”We are deporting you to a safe third country”.’
More than 100 people are believed to have been detained so far pending deportation to Rwanda.
At least one of the men has begun a hunger strike, according to the charity Detention Action.
Meanwhile, Asylum Aid is planning to bring legal action against the Home Office over the scheme.
Lawyers on their behalf have sent a pre-action letter to the department over the Safety of Rwanda policy, published late last month, saying it is inconsistent with the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act which became law last week.
Asylum Aid says it is concerned the policy could lead to the Home Office unlawfully denying people seeking asylum from entering the UK asylum system, and that the alleged inconsistency could lead to the Home Office refusing to consider evidence of individual risk.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to see flights to Rwanda off the ground by July after the act became law, though officials are primed for legal challenges made in the wake of the detentions as they accepted some of those being held could end up being released on bail.
Hope Hostel in Kigali, which has been waiting to receive asylum seekers for nearly two years
The FDA trade union, which represents senior civil servants, has also threatened legal action.
READ MORE – Rishi Sunak axes plan for a summer general election in belief that Rwanda flights take-off and improving economic picture can enhance Tories’ re-election bid
The union said its move related to the relationship of the Civil Service Code with the Safety of Rwanda Act, and the power for a minister to determine whether to comply with an order made by the European Court of Human Rights.
A direction to ignore such an order would breach international law, which conflicts with the duty of civil servants under the Civil Service Code to act in compliance with the law, which includes international law, said the FDA.
A Home Office spokesman said in response to the claims from detainees at Colnbrook: ‘We take the welfare of people in our care extremely seriously. There are robust safeguarding measures in place to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and has the support they need.
‘All detained individuals have access to a mobile phone, internet and landline telephones so they can keep in contact with friends, family and other support.’
Concerning the FDA’s threat of legal action, they said: ‘The Home Office already sought advice from the director general of proprietary and ethics in the Cabinet Office on the issue of the Civil Service Code and claims over the legality of implementing the Rwanda deportation scheme under the new legislation.’
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
Rwanda refuses to guarantee how many UK migrants it will take under £290million deal as government says living in the ‘beautiful’ East African state ‘is not a punishment’
The Rwandan government cannot guarantee how many migrants it will take from Britain under Rishi Sunak’s flagship deportation scheme.
Yolande Makolo, a spokesman for the east African state, said it was a ‘misconception’ the country is only ready to take an initial 200 migrants.
But she said she could not say ‘how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year’.
The Prime Minister’s plan to deal with asylum seekers arriving in the UK via irregular routes including the English Channel crossing is to place them on a one-way flight to Kigali.
He hopes this will deter other small boats attempting the journey from France.
Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said she could not say ‘how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year’
Rwanda has entered into a five-year deal to take in migrants from the UK.
Around 52,000 migrants have come to the UK without permission since the law was changed in 2023 and could therefore be line for deportation.
Asked by the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg if Rwanda would be able to process tens of thousands of migrants as part of the deal, Ms Makolo said: ‘We will be able to welcome the migrants that the UK sends over the lifetime of this partnership.
‘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.’
She had earlier claimed there was a ‘misconception’ that Rwanda was only prepared to take 200 initial migrants, telling the BBC: ‘Journalists have been visiting the initial accommodation that we have secured since the beginning of the partnership. This is Hope Hostel.
‘That particular facility is able to take up to 200 people.
‘However, we have 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.
‘So it has never been the case that we can only take 200 initially, that has been a misconception.’
Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour will not keep the Rwanda policy if it wins the next election, but this has prompted questions about what the party would do instead.
Ms Makolo urged critics of the plan not to attack Rwanda ‘unjustly’, and to present a solution to the migrant crisis which was ‘not just deterrence and enforcement’.
‘People are suffering here so we need good solutions and we need to rethink the migration crisis,’ she said.
The spokesman later added: ‘Living in Rwanda is not a punishment. It is a beautiful country, including the weather.’
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