UK in major refugee clampdown over Rwanda Bill

The UK Home Office is today expected to launch a major operation to detain asylum seekers across the country, weeks earlier than expected, in preparation for their deportation to Rwanda. Legalbrief reports that the move comes after the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill passed through the UK Parliament late on Monday night despite pushback from the House of Lords. The Guardian reports that officials plan to hold refugees who turn up for routine meetings at immigration service offices or bail appointments and will also pick people up nationwide in a surprise two-week exercise. Lawyers and campaigners said the detentions risked provoking protracted legal battles, community protests and clashes with police – with officers in Scotland put on high alert. Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said government was determined to ‘recklessly pursue its inhumane Rwanda plan despite the cost, chaos and human misery it will unleash’. He added that ‘we know it is likely to cause a catastrophic system meltdown’.

Detainees will be immediately transferred to detention centres, which have already been prepared for the operation, and held until they are put on planes to Rwanda. Some will be put on the first flight due to take off this summer. The Guardian reports that PM Rishi Sunak on Sunday said that cracking down on illegal migration was central to the Tory campaign. Police in Scotland have been put on alert because of the high risk of street protests and attempts by pro-refugee campaigners to stop detentions. Officers will not take part in the detentions but will take charge of crowd control and public order.

Full report in The Guardian

The Rwandan Government says the country is safe and ready to receive deportees from UK, and last week’s passage of the Bill is testament to that. The Bill legally declares Rwanda a safe destination, precluding UK judges from barring deportations on the basis that those sent to Rwanda could be at risk. The UK now expects to be flying people who cross into the country from France in small boats, to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks. Rwanda Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told News24 that ‘we have worked hard over the past 30 years to make Rwanda a safe and secure country for Rwandans and non-Rwandans alike’. According to the UN Refugee Agency, Rwanda is home to more than 127 000 refugees, mainly from the DRC and Burundi. In 2019, Rwanda established the Emergency Transit Mechanism Centre, which hosted 824 refugees evacuated from Libya. In a post on X, former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said political opponents and activists ‘have made unfounded smears and deliberately frustrated our efforts to control our borders, stop small boat crossings and save human life from being put at risk’. With the law now passed, the UK said it had put in place everything necessary to start the process. An airfield is on standby and commercial charter planes booked for specific slots, 2 200 extra detention spaces and 200 dedicated caseworkers trained and ready to quickly process claims. It has also added 25 court rooms to quickly deal with challenges, and 500 escorts already trained to accompany deportees to Rwanda, with 300 more due to complete training in coming weeks.

Full News24 report

Following the passage of the Bill, two top UN officials have sounded an alarm over human rights and refugee protection. Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a joint statement calling on the UK Government to reconsider its plan to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. ‘The new legislation marks a further step away from the UK's long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention,’ Grandi said. The asylum and immigration legislation was tabled before Parliament alongside the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty after the UK's Supreme Court found last year that the proposed transfer of asylum seekers to the African country would breach international and UK law. Türk said the Bill infringed on the rule of law. ‘By shifting responsibility for refugees, reducing the UK's courts' ability to scrutinise removal decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the UK and limiting the scope of domestic and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the UK and sets a perilous precedent globally,’ the UN rights chief said.

UN statement

Meanwhile, Botswana’s Foreign Minister, Lemogang Kwape, has confirmed that the UK Government had approached his country to ask whether it would be willing to receive migrants deported from the UK. BBC News reports that it follows unconfirmed reports this month in the British press that the UK Government was seeking to replicate its Rwanda scheme in Botswana, Armenia, Ivory Coast and Costa Rica. Kwape told Newzroom Afrika that Botswana refused the request which he said was made by the British Foreign Secretary and Minister for Africa through ‘diplomatic channels’. Kwape said Botswana was unable to accept migrants from Britain because it was dealing with its own immigration issues.

Full BBC News report