Asylum seekers fear Britain’s Rwanda deportation laws

Weymouth:

Asylum seekers kept on an accommodation boat off the coast of southern England say they fear being deported to Rwanda, after a controversial deportation proposal was approved.

One of them said, “I would prefer to die.” But none of those living in government-leased Bibby Stockholm know whether they will be on the list or not.

“Everyone is talking about Rwanda on the Bibby Stockholm,” said Atuib, a 23-year-old Sudanese who crossed the Channel from northern France in a small boat last year.

Atuib has been living on the barge for the past two weeks, which was moored in Portland harbor near the coastal resort of Weymouth last year.

Designed to accommodate 500 asylum seekers, it has been controversial due to complaints about conditions on board.

Some people have compared it to jail. Last December a man was found dead in a suspected suicide.

But those concerns appeared secondary to some people there on Tuesday, a day after British MPs approved government plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

“A friend called me from London to tell me that the government would deport every migrant like me to Rwanda,” Atuibe said in Weymouth town centre.

But he said Rwanda would send him back to Sudan, where his mother and sister fled conflict in the Darfur region.

They are now in a refugee camp in neighboring Chad, he said.

“Rwanda is not good. It is not safe,” he told AFP.

‘I’d rather die’

Rwanda has dominated the debate about the Conservative government’s plans to curb irregular migration since deportations were first considered in 2022.

But the plan has been dogged by legal challenges, after the first flights that year were halted at the last minute due to a court injunction.

The UK Supreme Court ruled in November last year that it was illegal to deport migrants to Rwanda to process asylum applications.

Central to the judges’ decision was that it was not a safe third country, and migrants were at risk of being sent elsewhere, including to their own countries.

A motion to defeat Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to enact securitization laws was approved by parliament on Monday after months of debate.

He said the first flights would begin in the next 10 to 12 weeks and would continue regularly throughout the summer months.

“I would rather die than go to Rwanda,” said Martin, a 28-year-old South African who arrived in Britain more than a year ago and has been in Bibby Stockholm for three months.

He did not say why he left South Africa, describing it as “very painful”.

But he was clear on the threat of deportation to Rwanda. He said, “It is better to kill me than to take me to Rwanda.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be deported to Rwanda or not, but that’s not our decision to make. But I know it could happen to me, so I’m scared, yes.”

a deterrent?

Bibbi is spreading fear and uncertainty among people living in Stockholm, who leave the boat every day to come to the city centre.

Ahmed and Muhammad, two Afghans aged 26 and 27, do not think they will be selected. “But no one knows,” said Ahmed.

The couple arrived on student visas in 2022 and 2023 and had university scholarships. He then requested asylum and is waiting for a formal decision.

Sunak has said the policy will be a deterrent to anyone wishing to come to the UK outside regular channels, and will break up the smuggling rings behind “small boat” crossings.

“If people find out there is no place for them here, they won’t come, they will choose another country,” Ahmed said.

But Mohammed, who was an international law student just a few months ago and – like his friend – wants to continue his studies, disagrees.

“This will not work. They will not stop. They can challenge the decision in court. There will be many challenges,” he said before heading to the library in Weymouth town centre.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)