FOLKESTONE, UK – Nearly every day, Kamal Mohamad calls home to his parents in Iraq from his converted army barracks on the outskirts of Folkestone, a seaside town in Kent, southeastern England, where he pending a decision on his asylum claim.
But when he talked to his parents two weeks ago, they couldn’t work it out.
“My dad called me, he was crying,” said Mohamad, 24. “He was so scared the government would send me to Rwanda, but I told him, don’t worry.”
The UK government’s announcement last month about a Controversial plan to send some asylum seekers to African country has brought confusion and anxiety to many, like Mr Mohamad, who arrived here in small boats across the English Channel, or by other unusual means.
It remains unclear who the policy will affect or how the government will implement its plan. Asylum seekers, many of whom have fled war zones and then made the perilous journey to Britain, say the ambiguity is an additional burden weighing on them.
Aid groups supporting asylum seekers, who are scattered across the UK in hostels, hotels and other makeshift accommodation, insist that the new policy has deepened discontent certainly for those who have been in precarious situations. And even many local residents of Kent, where small boats carrying migrants often arrive after crossing the English Channel, think the scheme seems unfair.
Mr Mohamad, a Kurd, arrived in Britain last year in a crowded dinghy. He is one of about 320 men seeking asylum is now housed in the old Napier Barracks in Folkestone.
“I had no choice,” said Mr Mohamad of his flight from Iraq. “We have too many problems in my country. We came just to survive.”
Since he arrived before this year, Mr. Mohamad said he thinks the new policy is unlikely to apply to him. But despite his reassuring words to his father, he admits he is worried. And he said many newcomers are concerned about being sent to Rwanda.
Katie Sweetingham, 39, emergency response leader for Care4Calais, an aid group supporting refugees, said her organization has received dozens of frantic messages since the government’s plan was announced. Father.
“They didn’t know what their future was going to be, but then you’ve got this horrible thing hanging around you,” she said. “I think it’s just another thing to hurt people.”
Miss Sweetingham and 21 other volunteers watch incoming trains along the Kent coast, greeting and offering hot drinks to those who come ashore. Care4Calais also provides assistance to people living in Napier Barracks and in other temporary accommodation.
Ms Sweetingham said of migrants: “These are vulnerable people and they are not a threat.
In a statement, the Home Office said the partnership with Rwanda would “repair our broken asylum system”, adding, “Nothing in the United Nations Refugee Convention country prevents moving to a safe country.”
But international rights experts and groups representing asylum seekers say the measures would actually contravene that law, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR , has rejected this policy.
So far, the UK plan has lacked details, but it says everyone who “enters the UK illegally, either by dangerous or unnecessary methods” – including by small boat – includes from the beginning of this year will be considered for a move to Rwanda.
The proposal has led to a backlash from lawmakers in the opposition, and even from some in the ruling Conservative Party. It has also been reported caused upheaval in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and painted protests from senior civil servants. Opponents say the policy will no expected containment effect and can be costly to taxpayers.
Human rights groups say the scheme is being used to score political points at the moment Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure.
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty UK’s refugee and migrant rights program director, said the policy was about the vision of migrants arriving by boat “and the political capital created out of that vision”.
“All that is about to happen is that a relatively small number of unfortunate hopeless people will be arbitrarily deported from this country to Rwanda, and God knows what might happen to them,” he said. more.
Asylum seekers make up a small portion of those who emigrate to Britain, and virtually all those arriving by small boat seek asylum. Of all asylum applications, nearly two-thirds are considered genuine refugees in 2021.
While Boats across the river have increased in the past two years, the asylum application was still significantly reduced from its peak two decades ago. Migration experts suggest that could be due to a change in routes. The incoming boats, however, became the focus of the Conservative government.
The government restricted an immigration measure last Monday, withdrawing it Authorization to return to the boat – a policy from last fall but never really put into practice.
That move comes after a legal challenge by several groups, including a union representing border officers tasked with implementing the policy. Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, also involved in the lawsuit, said that efforts are now underway to challenge Rwanda’s policy, which she calls “another amazingly costly exercise in when We should help people.”
On a recent Saturday afternoon, about 20 young men living in a London dormitory gathered in the basement of a church to play games, snack and learn English organized by Care4Calais.
Most have fled war, political repression or repression. They come from Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Syria, among other countries. Some have come by boat. Some are smuggled into the back of trucks from Europe. Others arrived by plane with fake documents.
At one table, a volunteer was explaining the Uno’s rules. In another corner, four men were gathered around the Jenga game, laughing as the wooden blocks fell.
One man at the gathering, Medhi, 31, an Iranian who asked to use only his own name out of safety concerns, described arriving in the UK three months ago by plane after fleeing persecution. from his family because of his conversion to Christianity.
Medhi shared a snap of his back showing the serious eyelash injuries he says his father caused. Medhi said he was worried that the government would send him to Rwanda or back home.
“I was scared about that decision,” he said of the possibility of being sent to Rwanda. “I want to stay here.”
Many local Kent residents, even some with anti-immigrant sentiments, say Rwanda’s policy is not right for them.
“I don’t agree with them coming here illegally, but then, once they get here, the least we can do is help if we can,” said Kerrie Heath, 33, who is shopping at Folkestone. “They’re just trying to get somewhere where they can improve their lives.”
Many adult asylum seekers spend months or years in temporary accommodation without the legal ability to work or attend school while their application and potential appeal are processed.
Marc Elsdon, 41, a military veteran who was drinking with his girlfriend in Folkestone’s newly refurbished harbor area, said he was embarrassed about Rwanda’s policy.
“We are open to anyone trying to start a new life, noting that many migrants are fleeing war,” he said. “I’m sure if it happened here we would go to another country for help.”
About 15 minutes from the beach, volunteers with local charity Napier Friends recently chatted in the afternoon sun with a group of asylum seekers from converted barracks who are helping plant a community garden.
In one of the shoveling groups was Zana, 28, from Iraqi Kurdistan. He also asked not to use his last name because of safety concerns. Zana works as an English teacher and translator for the coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq.
“My life is in danger there,” he said, describing being attacked because of his work with the union. He tried to get a resettlement visa but that proved “impossible”, he said, so he arranged to be smuggled across Europe on the back of a lorry, then arrived in England by boat seven months ago.
Now, he says, he feels abandoned by the countries he spent years helping.
“I had a great life there, but I had to leave it,” he said of Iraq. “I expected to be a lot better here.”
