Shocking Documents Reveal the Horrors of the Forcible Deportation of Asylum Seekers in Britain to Rwanda

New evidence revealed in the UK a day before an appeal to the High Court of London shows the full horrors of the inhuman and illegal treatment of asylum seekers forced to board their deportation flight to Rwanda, which failed in the last minutes.

In conjunction with the above, a report issued in early September by the British NGO Medical Justice indicated that the threat of forcible deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda increases the risk of suicide among them.

Rights groups have called on the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss to stop deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda and to abandon the approach hostile to them, despite Truss' pledge before taking the new position to support and expand the Rwanda plan to other countries.

The British authorities had revealed the cancellation of the first flight of its kind to transport asylum seekers to Rwanda, where it was scheduled to leave on June 14, 2022 The latest decision came after a series of judicial battles in Britain, to be canceled after a decision by the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Shocking Testimonies

Documents issued by the British Home Office showed that asylum seekers who were flown on the first deportation flight to Rwanda, which was stopped because the legal objection was accepted, were forced to board the plane, handcuffed, after they self-harmed and threatened to commit suicide because they were not deported from Britain, according to what was reported by The Independent on September 4, 2022.

These shocking practices obtained by Liberty Investigates (a unit of investigative journalism that publishes articles on human rights violations) came a day before the start of the first judicial review of the British government's policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda held on September 5, 2022.

The detention papers that officers filled out after incidents of the use of force show how detainees began screaming, wailing, and calling frantically with their lawyers and relatives after being told they would be deported to Rwanda.

When the officers went to speak with an asylum seeker in his room at the Colnbrook deportation center, they found him self-harming and did not stop injuring himself until the officers stopped him by force. Then he was treated and transferred to the deportation plane and placed under strict surveillance.

 Another asylum seeker told the staff that he would kill himself if he was forced to board the plane, as he was caught with a belt and physically tied to the plane seat and continued to scream until the flight was reported canceled.

The documents stated that a third man told his translator that he did not want to go and fell on his knees. The staff described his condition as very upset and that after entering the plane, he started banging his head against the chair in front of him and screaming, and then started biting his tongue until the security personnel applied a pain-relieving technique to force him to open his mouth and free his tongue.

 

Negative Impact

Although the European Court of Human Rights halted the first flight intended to transport asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, the Medical Justice organization published in its latest report on September 1, 2022, information on the consequences of deportation to Rwanda on the mental health of asylum seekers.

According to the organization, which studied the case of 36 people who were due to be sent to Kigali, the mere threat of expulsion had an impact on the mental health of the migrants.

Since arriving in the UK across the English Channel, 11 of them have had suicidal thoughts while in the detention center.

The organization believes that the risk of suicide and self-harm increased significantly after migrants were advised that they were at risk of being sent to Rwanda.

Last June, charities already warned of the risk of suicide among asylum seekers threatened with deportation after the life of an Iranian woman was narrowly saved after her suicide attempt.

A 40-year-old Yemeni man also attempted suicide, recording a video in which he said he had no other choice after learning he was at risk of being sent to Rwanda.

A 32-year-old Afghani also sought suicide when he learned that he was threatened with the same fate.

Based on this report, Emma Jane, Director of Medical Justice, called for the immediate release of all those threatened with deportation to Rwanda and the abandonment of this policy, noting that failure to do so, in light of medical evidence, meant that the harm caused by the government was intentional.

Despite the great criticism that the British government faces as a result of its new policy in addressing the issue of illegal immigration, it insists on moving forward with its policy and deporting asylum seekers to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

On his part, a spokesman for the British Home Office denounced the report, which provides a number of inaccuracies and false statements about the policy that has been developed.

"No one will be relocated if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them, and our comprehensive assessment of Rwanda has found it to be a fundamentally safe and secure country with a proven track record of supporting asylum seekers," he added.

 

Judicial Battle

Bloomberg reported on September 5, 2022, that charities and asylum seekers launched a judicial battle against the British government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, saying that this policy was illegal and not in line with human rights treaties.

Hearings in London's High Court are scheduled to last five days, and a ruling will be issued at a later date.

They pointed out that the documents that have come out in public show a few examples of the atrocities that will happen if the deportation attempts continue, and if these testimonies do not convince the new prime minister to change and cancel the proposals, nothing will convince him for sure.

The plaintiffs' lawyers are challenging the legality of the government's plans and asking the court to overturn the Interior Ministry's assessment that Rwanda is a safe third country.

Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, said: "Many of the asylum seekers targeted by the deportation scheme suffered unimaginable horrors."

"It is incomprehensible that our government has expelled them to a country notorious for its oppression. Reports of attempted self-harm and extreme anxiety serve only to confirm that the government is happy to cause trauma and harm once again, which is nothing less than a moral and legal aberration," she added.

Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, one of the organizations that brought up the legal challenge, noted that "the testimonies were further evidence of the physical and mental damage caused by the British government's brutal policy of deporting refugees to Rwanda."

She added, "In light of the humanitarian options available, is this barbaric policy what Britain wants?"

Meanwhile, Bella Sankey, Director of Detention Action, pointed out that "the testimonies are a disgrace to the government and the use of force against asylum seekers who have self-harmed by being sent to a country where they will face risks is dangerous."

"The new prime minister must dump this policy or be prepared to dehumanize not just those who are subject to it, but those tasked with implementing it as well," she added.

From the point of view of lawyer Bassam Tablieh, "asylum seekers who have traveled great distances and paid huge sums of money to reach the United Kingdom, of course, will suffer psychological trauma if a decision is issued to deport them to Rwanda, which may lead them to commit suicide, or they may have to escape from deportation centers."

In a statement to Al-Estiklal, Mr. Tablieh added: "Unfortunately, the policy of the UK Home Office of deporting refugees to Rwanda is a clear violation of the Refugee Convention and a disclaimer of the UK's responsibility towards them and transferring it to Rwanda."

The lawyer noted that "considering that there is a consensus between the policy of the Home Office and the political orientation of Parliament regarding deportations of asylum-seekers from the UK, the local courts will not be able to stand against this policy and provide redress to asylum-seekers. If we expect fairness, it will come from the European Court of Human Rights."

Mr. Tablieh continued, "The positions of the new prime minister are clear that she is with the deportations, and thus easing the commitment to the refugee treaty in this regard. So, we expect that they may try to put pressure, on the one hand, to abide by the controls around the safety of refugees when they are deported without canceling the deportations."

 

Strict Policy

In the same context, Liz Truss, who won the presidency of the British Conservative Party and prime minister on September 5, 2022, to replace Boris Johnson, announced her support for the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was widely opposed by immigration experts and the UNHCR.

Truss said she would look to continue more business partnerships with third countries such as Rwanda, increase border force by 20% and strengthen the British Bill of Rights.

"As Prime Minister, I am determined to fully implement the policy of repatriation to Rwanda, as well as explore other countries where we can work on similar partnerships," Truss said in a statement.

The Channel crossings have added to political pressure on outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, as he has vowed to tighten Britain's border controls after leaving the European Union.

More than 28,500 people, mostly young people, arrived in 2021. About 13,000 people this year are among the 60,000 expected to arrive this year, as most of them seek asylum, but the government reports that the costs of the application process are very high, amounting to more than $1.8 billion.

It is noteworthy that the decisions taken by Johnson's government from time to time regarding the refugees angered the humanitarian and human rights organizations, which consider these measures degrading and violating human rights.

More than 40 human rights organizations, including the Bail for Immigration Detainees organization, have condemned the British Home Office for forcing asylum seekers to wear GPS ankle bracelets, The Guardian reported on June 14.

Rudy Schulkind, at Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD), said: "The impact of wearing these bracelets on mental and physical health has been catastrophic. Asylum seekers expressed depression and feelings of discrimination, considering that they were treated like animals,"

"Being forced to wear an ankle bracelet means observing the minute details of one's life, including the clothes they are wearing, which is painful for those at risk," he told the newspaper.