First migrant flown to Rwanda as PM’s ‘stop the boats’ plan is finally taking off
THE first failed asylum seeker has been flown to Rwanda from Britain in a huge boost for Rishi Sunak’s migration policy.
The unnamed man, of African origin, touched down in Kigali after he was ushered out of the UK on Monday night.
The historic moment marks the first time a failed asylum seeker has been relocated to a third country – and ministers hope he will be the first of thousands.
The migrant, whose bid to stay in Britain was rejected at the end of last year, reportedly accepted passage on a commercial flight for a new life in the east African nation.
He was given around £3,000 of taxpayers’ cash to help relocate under the terms of a deal with Rwanda, which operates alongside the forced deportation policy set to begin in July. A Whitehall source told a newspaper: “This proves it’s possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly.”
The voluntary removals scheme for those with no right to remain was confirmed by the Home Office in March. It is for those who have already gone through the UK asylum process and have been refused permission to stay – as opposed to those crossing the Channel by boat illegally.
There are said to be tens of thousands of migrants still in the UK who will not gain legal status here, but who cannot be sent back to their home countries over fears of persecution.
Ministers argue that it is better and cheaper to offer them cash and a one-way ticket to a new life in Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express can reveal British-based smugglers are helping Channel migrants avoid being sent to Rwanda by taking them to Ireland. Asylum seekers camping in squalid conditions in Dublin claimed the criminals were charging up to £3,600 for passage from Belfast.
Many of the migrants told this newspaper yesterday the only reason they travelled to the Irish capital was the looming threat of a one-way flight to Kigali.
Mr Sunak’s Rwanda Bill was signed into law last week and the first dedicated flights for groups of migrants to the east African country could take off in June. The Prime Minister has insisted the migrant surge to Ireland is proof that the threat of deportation is deterring them from crossing the Channel.
However, Ireland has an acute housing crisis and PM Simon Harris claims there is an “operating agreement” to allow asylum seekers to be returned between both countries.
Ireland’s Department of Justice said 100 police officers would be sent to catch more migrants crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Meanwhile, in Dublin’s Lower Mount Street “tent city”, Amir Zeab, 39, from Pakistan, said: “Ireland is better than the UK. “The UK Government is sending people to Rwanda. This life is better than life in Rwanda.
“If the Government sends people to Rwanda, a lot more people will come here.”
Sudanese asylum seeker Abdul Mhammed, 20, said he crossed in a small boat after fleeing a London migrant hotel in 2022 when he was told he would be on one of the original flights to Rwanda.
He said: “I took a bus from London to Liverpool, then went from Liverpool to Belfast by boat. I then took a bus. I did it by myself.” He added: “Every country in Africa is not safe. Before, did you know the story of Rwanda? It was very bad.”
In a tiny tent only yards from the International Protection Office, Mohammed Alsafe, a married dad-of-two, from Israel’s West Bank Palestinian territory, said he had paid a UK-based smuggler he found on Facebook £3,600 to take him from Belfast to Dublin.
He said: ““I crossed the border by car, someone drove me.
“I gave him money. That man, he tells me ‘Give me money and come here’. I gave him money in Belfast.
“I didn’t know where I was going. I was in the car, boxed up.
“In the UK, there are no visas.The Government will maybe make you go to Rwanda.”
Intensify
Dozens of migrants, mainly from the UK, are said to arrive at the Dublin camp throughout the day, hoping to register for asylum accommodation.
Ireland’s justice department says it could take 12 months for its police operation against migrants to intensify. But amid fears of a return to a “hard border”, it added: “It is not the case that these Gardai will be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland.”
Mahmoud, 28, a driver who fled after arriving in the UK from Jordan, said: “The problem with Britain is
that they might send us to Rwanda. I came two months ago because I am scared about this.”
He said he fled his homeland in January after having an extra-marital affair, which led to death threats.
He added: “Speaking honestly, if my problem could be solved, I would go home now.”
A Pakistani migrant said: “More people come here [to Ireland] to avoid going to Rwanda. To here and to other European countries.
“I have seen the news that they are only heading to Ireland. That is not the case. They have been to more countries. I know that.
“They left the UK because of Rwanda.”
Otumba, a Nigerian asylum seeker in his 40s, said: “When I heard that the Rwanda Bill was going to be passed in no time, I was so scared. And people advised me to go to Ireland and said they were going to be really accommodating.
“I didn’t know we were going to be sleeping in tents. I thought we were going to get proper houses and stuff. Now I hear Ireland wants to send us back to the UK. No, we’re not going anywhere.”
FOLLOWING the news that the first asylum seeker has been deported to Rwanda, the failure to keep track of other potential deportees is abysmal. Millions of pounds have been spent on the scheme to send illegal migrants to the African state for processing but government documents show that of the 5,700 asylum seekers identified as contenders to go in the first cohort, only 2,143 “can be located for detention”. Downing Street denies the Home Office has lost track of the others, but the situation is a shoddy farce.
Former home secretary Priti Patel argues the Government should have invested in more detention sites and reception centres. For the Rwanda scheme to deter people from boarding small boats, the threat of swift deportation must be credible.
It should be no surprise that people who have crossed continents in the hope of a new life in the UK will do everything they can to avoid ejection from Britain.
Whitehall is presiding over another mess.