Syrian asylum seeker threatens suicide over Rwanda deportation
A Syrian asylum-seeker set to be deported to Rwanda has threatened to kill himself if sent by the British government, according to Arab News and agencies on May 5th.
The man, named Khaled, is currently being held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, among others waiting to be sent to the East African country.
“Everyone is so stressed in here because of Rwanda. We can’t eat and we can’t sleep. I was displaced in Syria for nine years and was imprisoned there and I was also detained and tortured in Libya” said Khaled.
He arrived in the UK in 2022, later finding out in 2023 that he could be deported to Rwandan capital, Kigali.
Khaled maintained, “I will not be safe in Rwanda. If they manage to send me there, I will kill myself on arrival in that country.
“They [the British authorities] arrested me and put me in handcuffs in a police cell. The same thing happened to two other people who were reporting – Iraqi Kurds. After we were taken out of the cell we were handcuffed again and taken in a van to the detention centre,” he added.
“Reporting” here means asylum seekers legally reporting their claims of asylum after arriving illegally in the UK.
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The Rwanda Plan has now made it legal for asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda.
Refugees such as Khaled find that, following their arrest, they are entirely powerless to prevent their deportation.
The Home Office subsequently imposed a week-long deadline for the refugees to appeal their forced move to Rwanda.
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Charity Care4Calais recently found that the majority of individuals detained as part of the Rwanda Plan come from war zones.
The charity’s head of legal access, Hannah Harwood critiqued the government’s plan saying, “The people detained have not had their asylum claims processed, and it’s clear from the first cohort we are in contact with that if their claims were processed they would probably be granted refugee status in the UK. It reaffirms how shameful the Rwanda plan is and why it must be stopped.”
But the Home Office rejected such accusations.
“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”, said a Home Office spokesperson.
The Rwanda Plan is part of a Europe-wide crackdown on immigration, making the fate of Syrian refugees increasingly uncertain.
Arab News / Agencies
