‘We are just being used’: asylum seekers react to passing of Rwanda bill

Asylum seekers threatened with being forcibly sent to Rwanda have reacted with dismay to the passing of the bill in the Commons, bringing the policy a step nearer.

They say their voices have been ignored and that they have been kicked around like a “political football” by politicians rushing to get their latest legislation on to the statute book.

The safety of Rwanda bill passed its third reading in the Commons unamended with a majority of 44 after only 11 Conservatives voted against it on Wednesday evening.

While the activities of the warring factions of the Tory party over the plans to fly some asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their protection claims processed have dominated the news agenda, asylum seekers say scant attention has been paid to their views on the scheme, which has been strongly condemned by judges, campaigners and the UN Refugee Agency.

“Of course we asylum seekers are just being used by the politicians in this conflict between them over how to manage their immigration policy,” said one person from Egypt, who is under threat of being forcibly removed to Rwanda.

“We are just numbers to the politicians arguing over what to do with us in parliament last night. Our fate and our souls do not matter to them. They treat us as if we are nothing. We want a feeling of stability and a sense of homeland but will not be able to get this in Rwanda. This policy is unfair and intimidating for us. I woke up this morning expecting to be deported to a place that will not be safe for us.”

A second asylum seeker from a Middle Eastern country, from where he fled political persecution because of his outspoken views about human rights and freedom, said: “I came here because I thought this was a country where I could have freedom of speech. The Rwanda policy has changed all that. Threatening us with Rwanda is a form of psychological torture.

“The Home Office should be treating people fairly, like human beings. I did not expect to be treated as a political football. The politicians have ignored our voices. I hope the Rwanda plan will never happen. It is not acceptable and it is not normal.”

One Congolese asylum seeker said the Rwanda plan was not only devastating for asylum seekers in the UK but would further destabilise his home country, which shares a border with Rwanda. “Rwanda does not have enough space to settle asylum seekers and it is aiming for space in Congo.”

One asylum seeker, who says he is under immense “mental pressure” on the Bibby Stockholm barge, believes the UK’s populist immigration policies are “unexamined and unreviewed” in terms of the impact they will have on the wellbeing and survival of asylum seekers, who are already physically and mentally weakened because of the situations they fled in their home countries and their difficult journeys.

“With these policies the government is only thinking about advertising for the British people,” he said.

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A Sudanese asylum seeker, who has received a notice of intent that he is at risk of being sent to Rwanda, is horrified that after his long and arduous journey to the UK he may end up not far away from his starting point.

“Before I came to the UK I knew about the Rwanda plan but I didn’t have a choice about escaping. I wanted to come to the UK because I speak good English and hope to have a life here, to study and work here and pay taxes. We are safe people and bring no problems.”

He said the threat of being sent to Rwanda was not acting as the deterrent the government hoped it would be but was simply making people more traumatised.

“It is because of Rwanda that I can never sleep well,” he said. “After this latest vote in parliament my sleep will be much worse. I am always thinking of Rwanda.”