British Home Office fails to locate over 3,500 asylum seekers slated for deportation to Rwanda

05/02/2024 / By Laura Harris

realinvestigationsThe Home Office of the United Kingdom is currently unable to locate more than 3,500 asylum seekers out of over 5,700 illegal immigrants slated for removal to Rwanda under the British government’s deportation law.

Initially devised by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022, the legislation, known as the “Safety of Rwanda Bill,” intends to deter irregular migration into the U.K., particularly immigrants traveling across the English Channel on illegal and dangerous small boats or inflatable dinghies from France, arranged by criminal gangs.

In 2022, Rwanda and the U.K. signed a migration agreement under the Safety of Rwanda Bill that would allow the British government to deport undocumented migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. (Related: U.K. and Italy agree to finance the repatriation of migrants attempting to reach Europe.)

But the first deportation flight, originally scheduled for June 2022, was blocked by a last-minute injunction from the European Court of Human Rights. Subsequently, the U.K. government was compelled to renegotiate the migration agreement after the U.K. Supreme Court raised concerns regarding the safety of asylum seekers under the initial scheme.

Nearly two years later, the British parliament finally passed the final version of the Rwanda deportation bill in April 2024. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the first deportation flights from the U.K. to Rwanda could begin in 10 to 12 weeks. Sunak added that there would be multiple flights per month through the summer and beyond.

However, several reports reveal that only 2,145 migrants have been accounted for and are complying with British government reporting requirements. The whereabouts of the remaining 3,557 asylum seekers remain unknown to authorities following the announcement that the British Home Office would mass detain illegal immigrants across the U.K. on April 29, weeks ahead of schedule, for their deportation to Rwanda.

British government denies losing track of Rwanda deportees

According to the deportation law, individuals lacking permission to remain in the U.K. should only be detained if they are about to depart soon. Consequently, the majority of those who have crossed the English Channel are provided accommodation by the Home Office. They receive a phone for communication with officials and are instructed to check in at one of 13 immigration offices or the nearest police station. However, there’s some flexibility in these rules.

The Home Office’s immigration reporting guidelines specify that asylum seekers without clear timelines for a final decision only need to report in person every three months. Those potentially subject to relocation to Rwanda are typically required to report every two weeks, although this requirement is not fixed.

This reason allows other U.K. officials to defend the government following the statement of the Home Office.

A spokesperson for the prime minister refuted claims of the Home Office’s inability to locate the missing asylum seekers.

“The Home Office continues to have a wide range of tools to maintain contact with them, those include face-to-face and digital reporting, and of course, many individuals are residing in Home Office accommodation. The Home Office remains confident of their whereabouts,” the spokesperson said.

Similarly, British Health Secretary Victoria Atkins assured the public that law enforcement would employ various measures to locate and remove asylum seekers who fail to report as required.

“Law enforcement has a variety of measures to find people, they will be found and they will be removed. We want the message to go out loud and clear that if somebody doesn’t report as they should do, they shouldn’t think that they’ll get away with it,” Atkins said.

Visit Migrants.news for more stories about illegal migrants.

Watch Dutch citizen Frank Krischick warns people against visiting the Netherlands.

This video is from the Frank Krischick channel on Brighteon.com.