'I came to Dublin from London where I was living and working, I don't want to go to Rwanda'
An asylum-seeker who had been living and working in London for a year-and-a-half revealed he decided to come to Ireland last month over fears he’d be sent to Rwanda.
The man, who is 20 and originally from Pakistan, told how he had a job in a coffee shop in the English capital but gave it all up to come to Dublin on April 7.
He revealed he flew from London to Belfast before getting a bus to Dublin.
The man, who asked not to be identified, now sleeps in a tent outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street Lower – along with hundreds of other asylum seekers.
Speaking with a strong British accent, he said: “I came from the UK, to be honest with you. (The Rwanda Policy) is the one reason I came here … who wants to go to Rwanda?”
The man said he knew if he stayed in London at some point he was going to be sent to the African nation and stressed he didn’t “want to take that risk” by staying put.
When asked why he didn’t want to go to Rwanda, he said: “It’s not a safe country mate … the crime is really high over there.”
He added: “The UK and Ireland are like the same. The people are really nice here, there are some good and bad though too – all five fingers are not the same.”
The man revealed he was renting in London and not in government-provided accommodation before coming to Dublin.
Tents cluster near Dublin’s Office of International Protection, serving as temporary homes for asylum seekers amidst debates sparked by Ireland’s justice minister, Helen McEntee, over migration patterns, human rights and refugee organizations question assertions regarding asylum seekers crossing from Northern Ireland, on April 30, 2024, in Dublin, Ireland.
When asked if he felt sleeping rough in Dublin was better than the possibility of being sent to Rwanda, he said neither was a good option.
The Irish Mirror visited the sprawling encampment on Mount Street Lower which is growing by the day to speak to migrants about their reasons for coming to Ireland.
When we visited yesterday, there were more than 120 tents that were pitched around the outside of the International Protection Office.
Dozens were also on the other side of the street. Some of which had up to four people sleeping inside.
Several journalists from the UK and France had also descended on the area to report on the situation as the diplomatic row between the British and Irish Governments continued to intensify last night.
People queue to enter the International Protection Office (IPO) in Dublin on April 30, 2024, which has become a tented village with migrants and asylum seekers sleeping on the footpaths and roads outside.
The Irish Mirror also spoke to Egyptian asylum-seeker Mohammed Sadd who said he was initially in France before going to the UK.
He told how he spent a week in the UK before travelling to Dublin via Belfast.
The 25-year-old declared that he paid “big money” to get out of one African nation so didn’t want to be sent back to another by staying in the UK.
We also spoke to an Afghan migrant, who was standing outside the IPO yesterday, who said he had his asylum application refused in Belgium – where he had been living for three years.
He then travelled down to France before crossing the English Channel on a small boat.
People arrive with tents near the International Protection Office (IPO) in Dublin on April 30, 2024, which has become a tented village with migrants and asylum seekers sleeping on the footpaths and roads outside.
Once he arrived in England, he told how he was put up in a hotel but decided to come to Ireland to be with his friends.
He also told how he feared his asylum application in the UK would be rejected as well.
The 25-year-old arrived in Dublin on Monday, after getting a ferry from Liverpool to Belfast before getting the bus to the Republic of Ireland.
He made an asylum application to stay in Ireland yesterday.
Meanwhile, Amir Zeb, who flew to Dublin via Istanbul from Pakistan, to claim asylum, said he believes the influx of migrants from the UK was going to continue because “Ireland is better than Rwanda.”
30/04/24 – Amir Zen
It comes as a former British Border Force chief says asylum-seekers have ‘done a disappearing act’ out of fear of being removed from the UK.
Kevin Saunders, who was chief immigration officer from 2001 to 2016, claimed migrants earmarked for the first deportation flights to Rwanda will disappear and “probably” end up in Ireland
Earlier this week, it was revealed more than 5,700 migrants have been identified for removal but only 2,145 of them continue to report to the Home Office in the UK.
The Home Office said the remaining 3,557 have not necessarily absconded but are not subject to reporting restrictions – meaning they cannot be located for detention.
Speaking yesterday Mr Saunders said: “They are going to disappear.
“Now that we have the new Rwanda Act on the table, they are worried they are going to be removed so they have done a disappearing act.”
Asked on BBC Radio 4 if the Home Office was wrong to claim they were not missing, he said: “I would not like to say the Home Office are telling porkies. Let’s say they temporarily cannot find them.
“It is people they have lost contact with. They are not going to appear, certainly not in the UK. They will probably turn up in Ireland. They know they are in the frame to be removed. They don’t want to be removed so they are going to disappear.”
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