by Nurat Uthman
British authorities on Wednesday began detaining migrants in preparation to send them to Rwanda in the next nine to 11 weeks, laying the groundwork for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy.
A statement released by Britain’s Interior Minister James Cleverly said “enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain” migrants who entered the nation illegally.
While Cleverly released his statement, the nation on Tuesday sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary scheme which is separate from the deportation policy, The Sun Newspaper reported.
Official data shows that over 7,500 migrants have arrived in England on small boats from France in 2024. Sunak’s government says the deal with Rwanda is focused on addressing illegal migration.
Cleverly’s ministry on Wednesday released images of a man being detained by immigration enforcement officials, while another was led out of his house in handcuffs. These were released after the National Crime Agency, NCA, last week said it arrested three Africans who were facilitating illegal migration into Britain.
Care4Calais, a refugee charity, said the detentions started on Monday.
A spokesperson said the group’s helpline received calls from “tens of people,” adding that they still did not know who would be earmarked for the first deportation flight, or when it would be attempted.
Natasha Tsangarides, the Associate Director of Advocacy at charity Freedom from Torture, says “people are very frightened.”
The fear of being detained and sent to Rwanda has pushed “some people to go underground and disengage with their support system,” Tsangarides said.
Despite the attempts by British authorities to curb ongoing illegal migration, several human rights organizations say Sunak’s administration should abandon the plan to send people to Rwanda.
Yasmine Ahmed, the U.K.’s Director for Human Rights Watch, HRW, says the deal with Rwanda “is a violation of human rights on multiple fronts.”
Last November, Britain’s high court followed through on a verdict by a lower court which ruled that Rwanda is not a safe destination for the asylum seekers. However, in April 2024, lawmakers passed the “Safety of Rwanda Bill,” which compels judges to regard Kigali as a safe destination.
The U.K. government “is trying to make fiction fact” by determining Rwanda as a safe country, Ahmed told VOA.
“What we see in Rwanda is significant repression of anyone who challenges Kagame (the president) on anything really,” the HRW authority said, adding, “we see that there are journalists who are currently imprisoned and there is depression of political activity.”
The FDA, formerly known as the Association of First Division Civil Servants, a British union focused on representing civil servants, says it plans to challenge the Rwanda plan on behalf of its members who will be impacted.
FDA was instructed to help enact the policy, but “civil servants should never be left in a position where they are conflicted between the instructions of ministers and adhering to the Civil Service Code,” said Dave Penman, the FDA’s general secretary.
Political experts say they expect other unions and human rights organizations to join the FDA in lodging legal challenges against the government to stop the flights to Rwanda from taking off.
