Home Office Rwanda operation ‘to detain asylum seekers across UK from Monday’

Britain’s Home Office will begin an operation to detain asylum seekers across the United Kingdom on Monday in preparation for deportation to Rwanda, weeks earlier than expected, according to the Guardian.

Officials plan to hold refugees who turn up for routine meetings at immigration service offices and will also pick people up nationwide in a two-week exercise.

They will be immediately transferred to detention centres, which have been prepared for the operation, and held to be put on later flights to Rwanda. Others identified for these flights are already being held.

The start of the UK operation precedes Thursday’s local council elections in England, a possible move to boost British prime minister Rishi Sunak’s claims he is cracking down on illegal migration.

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The prime minister stated last week the first flights to Rwanda would take off in “10 to 12 weeks” after the government forced its controversial Bill legalising the flights through Westminster.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has asked Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to bring legislation to Cabinet next week to enable asylum seekers to be sent back to the UK.

Claims the Rwanda plan is causing an influx of migrants into Ireland show its deterrent effect is working, Mr Sunak had said.

Police in Scotland have been put on alert because of the high risks of street protests and attempts by pro-refugee campaigners to stop detentions.

Communities in Scotland have twice prevented deportations by staging mass protests on Kenmure Street in Glasgow, in May 2021, and in Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, in June 2022.

On both occasions, hundreds of people surrounded immigration enforcement vehicles to prevent asylum seekers being removed after tense standoffs between protesters and police.

Police Scotland officers will not take part in the detentions for the Rwanda flights operation but will take part in crowd control and policing the Border Force’s operations.

Speaking on Monday before the Lords and Commons sat through the night to pass the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) Bill, Mr Sunak said: “To detain people while we prepare to remove them, we’ve increased detention spaces to 2,200.

“To quickly process claims, we’ve got 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.” – Guardian