UK starts detaining migrants for forced deportation to Rwanda

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) - The UK Home Office announced on Wednesday that the first batch of illegal migrants set to be deported to Rwanda has now been detained, following a series of nationwide operations this week.

“Operational teams within the Home Office have been working at pace to safely and swiftly detain individuals in scope for relocation to Rwanda, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks,” a statement by the Home Office read.

The action is a key part of the plan to deliver flights to Rwanda in the next 9 to 11 weeks.

The announcement came after the Rwanda Bill, seeking to send asylum seekers to the East African country, became law after it received royal assent last week.

Commenting on the detentions, Home Secretary James Cleverly 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.”

Home Office Director of Enforcement Eddy Montgomery said their specialist operational teams are highly trained and fully equipped to carry out the necessary enforcement activity.

“It is vital that operational detail is kept to a minimum, to protect colleagues involved and those being detained, as well as ensuring we can deliver this large-scale operation as quickly as possible,” he said.

The Home Office said that it has increased detention capacity to more than 2,200 detention spaces, and trained 200 new caseworkers to quickly process claims.

- UK won't take back asylum seekers from Ireland

Speaking at the House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK has "no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland.”

Responding to a question by Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) lawmaker Carla Lockhart, Sunak said: "It's no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent."

Ireland's prime minister has insisted the UK must respect an existing arrangement between the two countries to take back asylum seekers.

The comments came after Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Micheal Martin said the threat of deportation to Rwanda was causing "fearful" migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK.

One of the most controversial migration policies of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, the Rwanda plan has sparked international criticism and mass protests across the UK.

In January 2023, Sunak said tackling small boats, carrying irregular migrants across the English Channel from France, was among the top five priorities of his government after more than 45,000 people reportedly used the route to enter the UK in 2022.