Dungavel asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda under Home Office plans

In the face of a storm of criticism, Home Secretary Priti Patel has ­attempted to justify the proposal to send people seeking asylum to the ­African country as a deterrent to ­others planning to cross the Channel.

When the plan was announced, the UK Government also said “it will see migrants who make dangerous or ­illegal journeys, such as by small boat or hidden in lorries, have their asylum claim processed in Rwanda”.

When asked by the Sunday ­National if anyone currently in ­Dungavel ­detention centre in Strathaven would be affected, the Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.

But it said any person who has ­arrived in the UK “illegally, or by dangerous or unnecessary methods from safe countries since January 1, 2022 will be considered for ­relocation to Rwanda”.

Last year it was reported that ­migrants who had risked their lives crossing the English Channel were ­being sent 500 miles to Dungavel, which is usually used to hold failed asylum seekers before they are ­deported.

Maggie Chapman MSP (below), Scottish Greens equality and human rights spokesperson, said: “The admission that people already held in detention centres may be transported to Rwanda flies in the face of claims that this initiative is meant to be some kind of deterrent.

“Of course, it is much more cynical than that: it is another tool deployed by the racist Home Office to ratchet up its cruel and dehumanising hostile environment policy, and is rightly opposed by a majority of people across the UK.” 

The SNP has also ramped up ­criticism of the policy, pointing to a litany of human rights abuses by the regime in Rwanda.

It highlighted the case of Paul ­Rusesabagina, whose actions in ­saving the lives of more than 1000 people during the Rwanda ­genocide were the subject of the Oscar ­nominated film Hotel Rwanda.

A critic of President Paul Kagame’s government, campaign group Human Rights Watch said his recent sentence of 25 years for terrorism offences came after his unlawful detention and a flawed trial.

Alyn Smyth MP, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said the UK Government’s policy which was “horrific” in the first place was being made “even worse by a dodgy deal with a government guilty of ­horrendous human rights abuses”.

READ MORE: What is the human rights situation in Rwanda?

He said: “A quick look at President Kagame’s record makes clear that ‘Global Britain’ is once again absconding on its responsibility to help those fleeing conflict and violence.

“Political repression, unjustified arrests, and political assassinations are the norm for Kagame’s government – and the UK has given him a blank cheque to maintain authoritarianism.

“It is frankly disgraceful that a ­policy devoid of sense and ­humanity is being paraded as an example of good governance by a Home ­Secretary out of her depth.”

He added: “Refugees should be helped, not flown out to an unfamiliar country thousands of miles away.

“The UK Government has made a rod for its own back in pursuing this policy, which will make it ­harder to hold Kagame’s government to ­account for human rights abuses.

“Scotland wants no part of this ­immoral and impractical policy.”

Yesterday a former Rwandan ­ambassador to the US warned that the East African country is “more akin to a detention camp than a state where the people are sovereign”.

Theogene Rudasingwa, who was the country’s representative in the US from 1996 to 1999, has been in exile in America since 2004 after falling out with President Kagame.

The UK Government has said it trusts Rwanda to treat the ­asylum seekers sent there humanely, ­Rudasingwa said.

READ MORE: Rwanda: Children not ruled out of UK Government's refugee deal

But he added: “As a Rwandan with decades of political and diplomatic experience, my view is that under the regime of President Kagame such trust is unfounded.

“Notwithstanding Rwanda’s history, the world must be under no illusion as to the truth. Rwanda is hostage to the Kagame dictatorship and is more akin to a detention camp than a state where the people are ­sovereign.”

In a letter to The Times, ­Rudasingwa wrote: “So egregious are human rights abuses in Rwanda that Britain last year joined international criticism of unlawful killings, torture and other violence.

“Only months later it seems all this has been forgotten by Boris Johnson so that a transfer deal can be cut.

“Writing now as a refugee, ­rootless yet constantly under threat of ­retaliation by a spiteful regime, I feel for outsiders who battle to reach ­Britain only to face rendition to the Kagame state. For those poor souls it will be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire.”

The UK has struck a £120 million deal with Rwanda for the scheme.