01 May 2024 , 15:23
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Guardian understands dozens of detentions have taken place across the UK this week, prompting demonstrations
UK ministers have acknowledged for the first time that they are detaining asylum seekers to be removed to Rwanda, sparking demonstrations outside Home Office buildings.
Nationwide operations began this week to detain people, a statement said, with more activity due to be carried out over the next 11 weeks leading up to a one-way flight to east Africa.
The Guardian disclosed on Sunday that detentions would begin on Monday. Several asylum seekers who turned up for routine Home Office appointments on Monday have been detained and told that they will be sent to Rwanda.
The Guardian understands that there have been dozens of detentions across the UK in cities including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol.
The timing of the announcement on the Rwanda scheme, which is estimated to cost more than £500m over five years, has prompted scorn Labour.
A party source said: “Is there any more blatant sign that [former immigration minister Robert] Jenrick was right about this all being symbolic before an election than this mad flurry of stories?
“The core substance though hasn’t changed. This is a tiny scheme at an extortionate cost and the criminal gangs will see through this con.”
Downing Street categorically denied this. The prime minister’s press secretary said: “From our part there isn’t really a day to lose when people are dying in the Channel having been induced into boats by gangs.
“People are ultimately breaking into our country so of course we want to get moving as rapidly as possible and the PM has always been consistent that he would move as quickly as he could.”
Demonstrations against the removals are taking place across the country, including outside immigration reporting centres in Liverpool, Hounslow in west London, and at the east Midlands immigration office in Loughborough.
A large demonstration was taking place on Wednesday outside Lunar House in Croydon, south London, where one man, a Sudanese national, was detained on Monday and told he was being sent to Rwanda. It is understood he has been taken to an immigration removal centre along with two other detained men.
In a statement, the Home Office said the action was a key part of the plan to deliver flights in the next nine to 11 weeks.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, said: “Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground.
“This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalising the policy, to stop the boats and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.”
The Home Office claims to have increased detention capacity to more than 2,200 spaces, trained 200 new caseworkers to quickly process claims and have 500 highly trained escorts ready. It also said that commercial charters have been booked and an airport has been put on standby.
The Home Office, which also released photographs and video footage of asylum seekers being detained in raids conducted by immigration enforcement officers, has been criticised for whipping up anti asylum sentiments. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief cxecutive, said:“By drip-feeding updates about ‘round-ups’ and ‘detentions’ the government is callously seeking to exploit the predicament of people – many already suffering severe trauma from past persecution and abuse in countries they’ve fled and on journeys they’ve made.”
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “The government’s move to detain people is causing fear, distress and great anxiety among men, women and children who have fled war and persecution to reach safety in the UK. Children have been sending messages to our staff terrified that their age-disputed status will put them at risk of removal to Rwanda. We have also seen a worsening in the mental health and wellbeing of people we work with in the asylum system.
“By contradicting the supreme court to push ahead with the Rwanda plan, the government is laying the foundations for the next asylum crisis. Our analysis has shown that it is likely to lead to an unprecedented system meltdown, leaving tens of thousands of refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria stranded in permanent limbo and shut out of the asylum system.”