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Protests in front of the Royal Court of Justice in London against Rwanda plan on June 14, 2022. Photo: IFIR
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Kurds are at the risk of being on the first flight set to carry refugees from the UK to Rwanda late Tuesday, a migrants’ rights activist told Rudaw.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Rwanda plan in April in a bid to deter illegal migrants from undertaking perilous crossing of the English Channel by small boats run by smugglers. The plan has been widely condemned by rights organisations and the United Nations. The British Court of Appeal on Monday rejected a last-ditch attempt to block the first flight carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The flight was originally due to carry tens of refugees to the African country but many have won legal cases in court and their tickets have been cancelled. Up to six people are said to be on Tuesday’s flight, according to the BBC.
“They [refugees] will be bringing legal challenges in their individual cases today as well. We know there are two Iraqi Kurds, we know there are three Iranians, one Albanian [and] one Vietnamese person are still at risk of being on the flight,” Karen Doyle, national organiser at Movement for Justice (MFJ) told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir on Tuesday.
“We hope to be able to stop this plane and future planes. There are many people speaking out. This is a popular position,” she added.
Top British officials have defended the scheme, with Johnson saying on Tuesday that he knew the plan would attract “plenty of legal challenges” and that his cabinet may need to change the law.
According to the BBC, 138 people reached the UK via boats on Monday. Over 10,000 migrants have made it to the country in 2022.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Tuesday that "If people aren't on the flight today, they will be on subsequent flights to Rwanda."
Hassan Karim is a Kurd from the Kurdistan Region. He was detained on May 17 along with a number of other refugees in London. He told Rudaw Radio’s Kawar Salih on Tuesday that he has spent 22 years as a refugee in the UK.
“All have all been held in solitary confinement. I used to be there as well. They treated us in a very inhumane way,” he said. Karim spent three days there. Some who are among those due to be sent to Rwanda later today have been put in solitary confinement and “some have gone on hunger strike,” he said.
He added that these people are allowed to speak on the phone for only ten minutes per day.
The UK had planned to deport around 30 Kurds to Erbil on May 31 but the flight was cancelled. Karim was one of them.
“The Home Office has decided to release me but the decision has not been implemented. They initially said I would be released in three days but am still detained,” he said.
Dashty Jamal is the Secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR).
“There are currently about 50-60 Kurds in Britain's prisons. They are two groups: those who were detained when doing their monthly signature despite staying there for over 20 years,” Jamal told Rudaw on Tuesday. The other group are those who entered the UK via the English channel. These have been detained in jails and hotels, including 36 Kurds from Kurdistan Region who could be deported.
“We have hired lawyers for them and so far the tickets of nine of them to Rwanda have been cancelled but they are still held in a jail near the London [City] Airport. Definitely, they should be released and be given places because the court has ordered their release.”
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