On Sunday 28 April The Guardian reported that the government was intending to arrest and detain hundreds of asylum seekers, ahead of deporting them to Rwanda. The article suggested the plan was intended to shore up the Conservative Party vote prior to the local elections on Thursday. Opposition to the Rwanda plan has not diminished but, following the passage of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act (SRA), there are few legal avenues left to pursue. This article explores the remaining options open to lawyers and civil society to oppose the policy and looks at how individuals and organisations can best support refugees who are likely at risk.
The government plans to detain those turning up for routine asylum interviews as well as others resident in Home Office accommodation. Deportations are expected to take place in June or July – if government statements can be believed. The majority of those arrested now are unlikely to be sent to Rwanda, there are insufficient places, but the experience of arrest and detention will be traumatic and unnecessarily cruel. The government may hope that the immediate detention of asylum seekers will boost votes for the local elections, while the negative impact of the ugly scenes that will inevitably accompany forced removal can be delayed.
Almost all asylum seekers now deemed ‘inadmissable’
Almost all asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK via small boats since March have been issued with notices of their potential transfer to Rwanda. The notice is routinely issued along with their bail papers when they leave the initial processing centre. According to Right to Remain, 77,000 people have received notices of ‘inadmissibility’ to claim asylum in the UK having travelled through or spent time in another safe country since January 2021. Of these, 84 have received a ‘decision of inadmissibility’ which means their representations have been heard and the decision to remove confirmed. Twenty-five people have been removed. These are mostly EU citizens who have no right to apply for asylum in the UK (or in any EU country). None have been removed to Rwanda.
During the passage of the SRA through Parliament last week, Rushi Sunak said that there were 2,200 detention spaces in the UK and “200 trained, dedicated caseworkers ready and waiting. To deal with any legal cases quickly and decisively, the judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days”.
In December 2023 there were 1,782 people in immigration detention. Almost all of these were people awaiting deportation or potential absconders (primarily Albanians and Vietnamese) or those about whom further enquiries were being made. Most arrivals were generally bailed after initial enquiries at the Manston holding centre, having been assessed as at low risk of absconding. These figures suggests that there are, currently, at most, 420 places for people deemed inadmissible, who may then be sent to Rwanda. Presumably the other 77,000 will continue to be bailed as at present.
A thousand more immigration detention places may come on stream over the next few years (if the Home Office overcomes the planning and health and safety difficulties that have bedevilled their development to date). However, the number of arrivals will still outstrip provision a hundred-fold. This means arrest and detention will become a game of Russian Roulette.
Who are most vulnerable to detention and deportation?
In 2023, the largest group of people arriving by small boat were Vietnamese. In 2022 it was Albanians. The UK government has returns agreements with Albania and Vietnam and it will remain easier for the government to return people to Albania or Vietnam than to send them to Rwanda. People arriving from these countries are already more likely to be detained. Those most likely to be sent to Rwanda are people from high refugee generating countries where the national infrastructure and migration processes are too weak to enable direct returns of refugees to their homeland. These are the people who are currently bailed.
An analysis by Care for Calais in January 2023 found that 72% of the 213 people supported by them, who had received notifications of their possible deportation to Rwanda, were from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Iran – the Middle East and Africa. Previously, asylum seekers from these countries had a high rate of positive asylum decisions. The government has said it will not send those who worked for special forces in Afghanistan to Rwanda but refused to incorporate any legal safeguards in the SRA.
Likely legal responses
The Institute of Government and Free Movement have produced summaries of the legal implications of the recent immigration acts (combined) and the legal challenges that may be pursued. The courts must assume that Rwanda is safe, for eternity, despite any contrary evidence, and much of the Human Rights Act has been disapplied in these cases. The European Court of Human Rights could rule that the policy in law and in practice is incompatible with human rights legislation, but it cannot force the government to act on that finding.
Individuals can still argue that removal is not safe for them given their individual characteristics or circumstances, but the evidence must be ‘compelling’. The court can only order a delay to removal if there is a clear, serious and imminent risk of harm. While the courts may become quickly clogged up, notwithstanding the supposed 150 judges already waiting to hear these cases, it does not currently appear that a legal route to preventing deportation will be easily found. An application to delay departure might be the only option for many people.
Continued international and national condemnation
Both the UN and the Council of Europe have condemned the SRA. The UN has also warned airlines that they will be in breach of international law if they forcibly transport refugees or risk transporting them to torture or refoulement (sending them onto another country where they might be at risk). Closer to home, Freedom from Torture leads the campaign to ‘Stop the Flights’ and has successfully persuaded airlines not to fly refugees to Rwanda. Freedom from Torture is also fundraising for this campaign.
Over 250 UK organisations have written to Rishi Sunak condemning the Rwanda Plan. There are a number of petitions doing the rounds across social media, including to Parliament https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/660940
Protests and direct action
Care4Calais and Stand up to Racism are leading a campaign of mass mobilisation against the flights. A protest in July is currently being planned. These Walls Must Fall continues to campaign against ‘in person’ reporting and immigration detention, and has groups in Leeds and Sheffield. Detention Action campaigns for the rights of all those in detention. Together with Refugees is an umbrella network, organising and bringing campaigns together.
The Anti-Raids network takes direct action to prevent immigration officers from arresting and detaining refugees and other immigrants. It comprises local groups who convene when a raid is suspected and try to prevent arrests through their physical presence.
Destitution support
Many news outlets have reported that the Home Office knows the whereabouts of only 38% of asylum seekers. This is likely to be an exaggeration. However, many of those who have received a notice that they may be liable to be sent to Rwanda have disappeared, some of whom have travelled to Ireland and sought asylum there. Many more will disappear and the threat of detention at asylum reporting venues is likely to precipitate a swell of newly disappeared refugees. Having breached their bail conditions, these people will be unable to work legally, and will lose any right be housed or supported by public funds. They will be destitute and reliant on charity and food banks or they will go underground among those who would exploit them for criminal or other purposes.
Local voluntary refugee organisations are already supporting destitute refugees with food and tents/ sleeping bags and helping them access legal advice. An example of how they support refugees can be found here. City of Sanctuary also operates throughout the UK and can put those who want to help refugees in touch with local groups.
