- Mohamed Shalaby, Emir Nader
- BBC Arabic
June 6, 2022
Asylum seekers at a British immigration detention centre said they went on a hunger strike following being told they would be deported to Rwanda.
Seventeen asylum seekers at Brookhouse Detention Centre near Gatwick Airport in Sussex told the BBC regarding the distress and desperation that pervaded detainees.
In April, the British government announced plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
But the Home Office said the well-being of detainees was “critical”.
Details of the deportation notice were revealed to the BBC by the asylum seeker.
A document dated June 1 lists an asylum seeker in Brookhouse as being regarding to be deported to the Rwank capital Kigali. He cannot appeal the decision, the document said.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has already said the first flight to deport people without authorisation to enter the UK will leave the country on June 14 – a week later than initially announced.
After the Nationality and Borders Act was launched in April, the UK government will refer the responsibility of providing asylum to a “safe third country”, Rwanda, for those arriving in the UK through unconventional routes , such as the man who crosses the English Channel by boat from France.
Flying the asylum seekers to Rwanda, 4,500 miles (7,240 kilometers) away, is part of a £120m ($151m) deal between Britain and the central African country.
image source,Archyde.com
British Home Secretary Patel travels to Rwanda to sign the agreement
An asylum seeker who spoke to the BBC said he was one of 17 people who ended a five-day hunger strike on Wednesday night when guards stopped offering sugar water to those who refused to eat.
The man, Ali, told the BBC he had family in the UK and his last meeting with immigration officials was regarding ending the hunger strike. “The last thing they told me was ‘Eat so you can get on the plane in good health’.”
Among those on the hunger strike were Egyptians seeking asylum, and around 100 of those arriving in the UK were told by the Home Office they would be deported to Rwanda. One group was notified on Wednesday regarding boarding and leaving the country on June 14.
Opposition leaders, charities and religious groups have criticized the deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Authorities at Brookhouse banned them from using cellphones with cameras, confiscated their smartphones, and only provided them with phones without internet access, the detainees said.
The BBC has obtained a full copy of the deportation notices detailing their status. The letter, which is over 20 pages long, is published in English only. But one of the chapters mentioned that there were translators on the scene explaining its content to asylum seekers. The document misspelled the man’s name several times.
Two asylum seekers each asked our reporters regarding the contents of the documents because they might not understand the details of the terms in English, but were asked to sign them.
The Department of Home Affairs did not confirm how many people had received deportation notices. However, charity Care4Calais estimates that around 100 asylum seekers who arrived in the UK in the past month have been warned they will be sent out of the country.
Care4Calais has reached out to more than 60 of them and provided them with support.
A man from Syria has been tracked in his hometown for enlistment in the military. He told the BBC that he was “prepared to die, but not to be sent to Rwanda”.
“When I heard that we were going to be deported to Rwanda and that we were going to get a five-year residence permit there, I started beating myself up,” he said.
Responding to questions regarding the hunger strike at Brookhouse Detention Centre, a Home Office official said: “The health and well-being of those entering detainees is paramount.”
“We will do everything we can to prevent people from harming themselves or committing suicide, including having dedicated counselling teams at every immigration removal centre who are responsible for identifying vulnerable individuals and providing support to individuals in need.”
An Egyptian man told the BBC he was one of 17 people who took part in the hunger strike. “I went on hunger strike twice before I got a chance to meet with the Home Office,” he said.
“I had to leave my country to resolve a family dispute. What I saw in Libya on the way here, gave me mental health issues.”
In announcing the launch of the repatriation flight in mid-June on Tuesday (May 31), Home Secretary Patel said: “We know there will be attempts to obstruct the process and delay the repatriation; I will not be intimidated and will do my best to complete the British public expected business.”
However, Steven Galliver-Andrew, a lawyer specialising in immigration law, told the BBC he did not think the government would insist on launching the first deportation flight on June 14 as planned.
“It appears that the law allowing the government to do this will not come into effect until June 28, 2022,” he said.
“What they’re doing, can and will be called into question – and they know and expect that.”
*Daisy Walsh (Daisy Walsh), Ashisha Garfoe (Ahisha Ghafoo) and Ziad Katan (Ziad Qattan）contributed to this article