Al Jazeera spoke to people at detention centres in the UK who are scheduled for deportation – just under a week from the first flight on June 14. Those who spoke to Al Jazeera paint a picture of desperation and fear as well as questionable conditions inside the detention centres.
The detainees spoke of mental health struggles, and hunger strikes. The names have been changed to protect the individuals.
Ahmed, from Syria, said he fled the war-torn country after refusing to join the army and arrived in the UK without documents. He is due to be deported on the first flight.
“I escaped and came to the UK through the Balkan countries,” the 20-year-old, detained at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near London Heathrow Airport, told Al Jazeera by phone.
“Unfortunately, on May 20, the Home Office notified me of the decision and gave me a ticket to Rwanda.”
He is on a hunger strike to protest the move.
“I don’t see any reason why I should go to a country in Africa where I don’t have relatives and family. I don’t know the people there. I will refuse to go, but if the UK government insists on my deportation to Kigali and forces me to the plane, I will take my own life.”
Ferhad is 23, He is a Kurdish detainee from Iran at the same centre. He said the prospect of deportation is bleak when compared with how Ukrainians have been welcomed. He is due to be deported on the first flight. He is also on a hunger strike.
“When the war in Ukraine started, all Ukrainians were welcomed and given better treatment,” he said. “Since we are all refugees, I didn’t understand why I would be relocated to Rwanda when Ukrainians are welcomed, given a better life, shelter and everything they need.
“Regardless of our origin, we are all human beings. Kill me here or let Iran kill me, instead of taking me to Rwanda.”
Asim, 25 from Sudan, arrived in Britain by boat via France. He risked his life through Libya and over the Mediterranean Sea to reach the UK. But days later, on May 17, “I was given the decision to send me to Rwanda,” he said by phone from Colnbrook to Al Jazeera.
“I fled Darfur due to conflict. Kidnapping and taking me to Rwanda is against my basic human rights and to protest that, I am on hunger strike.”
Al Jazeera claims to have seen documents from the Home Office sent to some refugees that say individuals cannot appeal the decision to send them to Rwanda on June 14.
They also described a distressing atmosphere and questionable conditions within the detention centre. They claim guards took their smartphones on arrival and provided them with phones that do not have internet access.
One Muslim detainee said he did not feel assured that the food being served at the centre was halal.
“We are hearing tragic stories about the severe impact on mental health, with reports of self-harm,” Enver Solomon, head of the UK-based Refugee Council, said of the information his organisation has received from detainees. “We are concerned the government is not seeing the face behind the case and it should be doing far more to exercise its duty of care towards vulnerable people.”
A Home Office spokesperson responded to these claims, saying detainees have been able to contact their legal representatives by telephone, email and video call – and receive 30 minutes of free advice through a legal aid scheme.
The spokesperson also said detainees are provided with three good quality meals each day meeting religious, dietary, cultural and medical needs.
