As signs mount that Priti Patel’s new immigration plan is faltering, details have emerged of the next batch of asylum seekers the Home Secretary wants to send on a deportation flight to Africa. Information shared by charities shows that six were trafficked or tortured, including one who was held and beaten in a warehouse in the Libyan desert for eight weeks. Not a single asylum seeker has been sent to Rwanda nearly five months after Patel’s policy was announced. A judicial review of its legality will be heard in the high court this week. Another central element of the immigration plan – the creation of new processing centers for asylum seekers – also appears to have stalled after the MoD admitted to the Observer that, despite assessing 100 different sites for the Home Office since January, it has yet to publicly identify a new one that could be used. The only site so far called “asylum accommodation” – in Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire – was abandoned after the Home Office failed to take any asylum seekers there and the Foreign Office withdrew from the scheme. Meanwhile, efforts by Patel – who, according to reports, may be sacked as home minister – to control the number of small boat crossings are also failing, with record numbers arriving. Over 25,000 have arrived so far this year. A further 3,733 people crossed the Channel during the week to August 28 – double the number for all of 2019. The Observer can reveal that the government is considering bringing back its notorious policy of turning away refugees for use against small boats crossing the Channel. Five months ago, after the policy was officially criticized by ministers, documents released under freedom of information laws suggested the government was reviewing the tactic it has been accused of stifling in Greece. Sophie McCann, an advocacy officer for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said: “It’s a shame the government ever thought of carrying out potentially deadly ‘pushbacks’ against people seeking safety.” Clare Moseley of the charity Care4Calais, one of the groups taking legal action this week against the Rwandan plans, said: “The government’s brutal policy on Rwanda is targeting people who have escaped the worst horrors in this world. Given the more humane and effective options available, is that really what our country wants to do?” Despite the legal challenge, the government plans to deport 19 people to Rwanda in the coming days. Details of 13 of them were shared by Care4Calais after screening interviews of asylum seekers: they include six who are married and two who have children. Of those who shared details of torture in their preliminary questionnaire, one said they had been sexually abused in Iran and another said they had been “detained and threatened with execution if he did not comply with the smugglers’ instructions” en route to the UK. A Sudanese man crossing into Libya was detained for a month, “humiliated and forced to work without money,” the charity said. For another, the charity said: “Smugglers were violent towards him throughout the journey to Turkey. [he was] he was kept for a week in a small room without food or water.” Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the policy had profoundly damaging effects on the mental health of asylum seekers. “Every day, through our work, we witness the impact that the threat of eviction is having in Rwanda, especially on people’s stress and mental health, with alarming reports of young people who have self-harmed,” Solomon said. Subscribe to The Guardian Headlines UK A roundup of the top morning headlines emailed straight to you every day of the week Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. MoD documents dated August 31, 2022, released under freedom of information laws, reveal that twists and test results in the tactic could form part of “future policy on the live issues surrounding the passage of small boats from the Channel”. However, the Foreign Office is refusing to release its assessment of the tests carried out off the coast of Weymouth, Dorset, in the summer of 2021, raising questions about the actual findings along with issues of transparency. During a defense committee hearing in July, Defense Secretary James Heppe admitted that Patel and Boris Johnson were convinced of the merits of the dangerous tactic by using it in Greece, where it has been linked to several deaths. “The prime minister, the interior minister and government advisers had seen the successful implementation of push tactics elsewhere, notably in Greece,” Happy said. McCann added: “MSF teams are working there [Greece] they have seen and heard the terrible damage that “push-back” tactics have caused, including injuries, trauma and people being swept overboard. “So it is deeply worrying that, while claiming to have abandoned politics, this government appears to be leaving the door open to reviving it in the future.” Responding to questions ahead of the judicial review of Rwanda’s policy, Patel said: “We expected legal challenges to this innovative plan. “Those behind these legal challenges have unfortunately delayed the implementation of our partnership and so far have only succeeded in helping people-smuggling gangs over the summer, resulting in more people boarding flimsy boats and putting their lives at risk in the English Channel. “Rwanda remains a safe and secure country with a strong record of supporting asylum seekers. The sooner we can implement this new policy, the sooner we can break the business model of the evil people smugglers and prevent further loss of life in the Channel.”
