Man detained by British Home Office told he is being sent to Rwanda, says NGO

An asylum seeker who turned up for a routine British Home Office appointment on Monday was detained and told that he was being sent to Rwanda, an NGO has said.

In what is believed to be the first potential deportation case under the Rwanda scheme since British prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Bill received royal assent, the Sudanese man was held in Croydon, south London, the organisation Soas Detainee Support (SDS) told the Guardian.

The man said he had arrived to sign in but was informed that he would be deported to east Africa.

A British government impact assessment released on Tuesday warned that changes to guidance would result in more vulnerable and traumatised people being held and deported.

It was revealed on Tuesday night that a man who had his asylum claim in the UK rejected had become the first person to be relocated to Rwanda – but under a different, voluntary removal scheme.

The man, understood to be of African origin, was flown on a commercial flight on Monday. In exchange for agreeing to relocate to Rwanda, he received a payment of up to £3,000, British government sources told the Sun.

Official figures released on Monday suggested thousands of people the British government hoped to deport to Rwanda had stopped reporting to the Home Office.

According to SDS, the Sudanese man detained in Croydon is one of three people being held after attending the Lunar House immigration reporting centre. Another detainee is Afghan, it said.

A spokesperson for SDS said: “We have been in touch with three asylum seekers who were detained on Monday after attending the Lunar House immigration reporting centre. All three meet the government’s criteria for deportation to Rwanda, although none have received notices of intent yet.

“They are also from countries with high asylum grant rates. One of them reports being told by immigration enforcement staff that they were being detained in order to be deported to Rwanda.”

SDS – set up by students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, a London university, in 2005 – offers advice and support to detainees.

It said it had received “an alarmingly high number of calls” since the British government announced its goal of detaining asylum seekers en masse in preparation for a Rwanda flight.

“Some of our members were also present yesterday outside Eaton House immigration reporting centre [in Hounslow, west London] and saw at least three people be detained and taken away in enforcement vans,” an SDS spokesperson said. “However, we are unable to confirm whether they were detained for the purposes of the Rwanda scheme.” - Guardian