AFP
“Rather die than go to Rwanda”: the fear of migrants in the United Kingdom
Fear has gripped asylum seekers housed on a barge in the south of England, after the adoption by the British Parliament of a law allowing the expulsion of migrants to Rwanda. “Rather die,” one of them even exclaims. Will they be on the list of people to be expelled? These migrants don’t know it at the moment. But “everyone is talking about Rwanda on the Bibby Stockholm”, says Atuib, a 23-year-old Sudanese, who arrived in the United Kingdom a year ago from Calais aboard a ‘a small inflatable boat. He has been housed for two weeks on a quayside barge, the Bibby Stockholm, installed last summer to house up to 500 asylum seekers, in an area closed to the public at the port of Portland , in Weymouth, a seaside resort on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. This barge is very controversial, particularly for the living conditions on site, but even that seems secondary on Tuesday. Atuib came to change his clothes ideas in the town center of Weymouth. “A friend from London called me this morning to tell me that the government was going to send migrants like me to Rwanda,” says this young man who prefers not to give his name. “But Rwanda will then send me to Sudan,” fears Atuib, whose mother and sister are, he says, in a refugee camp in Chad, after fleeing the war in Darfur. Rwanda, “this “is not good, it is not safe”, he continues in hesitant English. The project adopted on the night of Monday to Tuesday will allow the expulsion to Rwanda of asylum seekers who entered illegally. Their asylum application will be examined in this East African country and they will not be able to return to the United Kingdom, whatever the outcome. This project was announced two years ago by Boris Johnson, then Prime Minister, but was blocked by the European Court of Human Rights, then legal challenges and a months-long battle in Parliament. The UN asked London to “reconsider its plan”, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to take off planes to Kigali at the beginning of the summer. – “Kill me and bury me” – “Rather die than go to Rwanda”, reacts Martin, a South African 28 years old, arrived in the United Kingdom a little over a year ago and has been staying on the barge for three months. He does not want to explain why he left his country, explaining that it is “too painful”. But there is no question of going to Rwanda: “It is better to kill me and bury me”, he decides. He explains have not yet received a document from the Ministry of the Interior. “I don’t know if I’m going to be deported to Rwanda. (…) But I know it could happen, so yes, I’m afraid.” No one knows precisely who is likely to be deported, further adding to the concern of asylum seekers. Ahmed and Muhamad, two Afghans aged 26 and 27, believe that they will not be targeted. “But no one really knows,” adds the first. They arrived in the United Kingdom legally in 2022 and 2023, on student visas thanks to university scholarships. They have both requested asylum and are awaiting a response. For Ahmed, there is no doubt that the policy of expulsion to Rwanda “will be effective.” The objective stated by the conservative government is to dissuade migrants from coming to the United Kingdom. “People will not come if they know that they risk being deported to Rwanda,” he believes. They will rather go to another country according to him. But his opinion is not shared by Muhammed, who was a student of international law a few months ago: “This will not stop the migrants. There will be legal recourse , a lot of legal action.” Then the two Afghans continue their walk in Weymouth. Their dream is to return to school. In the meantime, they go to the small town library.ctx/gmo/mba
