Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian agency: Russia will conduct a nuclear test if the US does
Al-Nakhalah: We are the rightful owners, and we must fight to retrieve our rights
Al-Nakhalah: The enemy and its allies must know that we can never surrender to their terms and diktats after all the sacrifices made
Al-Nakhalah: The prisoner exchange clause can be completed in the next few days, and thus we will have pulled the [explosion] fuse and removed the enemy's justifications for aggression
Al-Nakhalah: The Resistance has expressed its willingness to negotiate on the basis that there are items that can be dealt with positively, the first of which is the prisoner exchange item
Al-Nakhalah: Trump's plan entails the Palestinian people's declaration of complete surrender to the enemy
PIJ Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, in an address aired on Al Mayadeen: The Resistance is engaging in a fierce negotiating battle under the so-called Trump plan
Russian Federation Council approves joint military cooperation agreement with Cuba
Al-Nunu: Today, the lists of prisoners required to be released, the agreed-upon criteria and numbers, were exchanged
Al-Nunu from Sharm el-Sheikh: Negotiations focused on mechanisms for implementing an end to the war, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners

Half of asylum seekers facing removal from UK to Rwanda are married

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 25 Jan 2023 16:07
4 Min Read

Priti Patel's assertions that persons crossing the Channel are "not genuine" asylum seekers are refuted by a survey.

  • x
  • People are brought into Dover harbour onboard a Border Force vessel after crossing the Channel. (Reuters)
    People are brought into Dover harbor onboard a UK Border Force vessel after crossing the Channel. (Reuters)

Nearly half of asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda are married, with one fifth having children, according to a new survey.

The findings were released on Wednesday by the campaign coalition Together With Refugees, a coalition of over 500 national and local refugee organizations, while the analysis was carried out by the charity Care4Calais.

The survey found that the majority of asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda come from countries where more than 80% of people have had their refugee status recognized by the UK. 

The new study refutes claims made by former home secretary Priti Patel, who introduced the program to stop people from attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats, claiming that they were "not genuine asylum seekers" and "elbowing out the women and children, who are at risk and fleeing persecution."

Read next: UK: 30,000 in asylum limbo for more than six years

In a pool of 213 people, 72% of those who were threatened with being deported to Rwanda by the Home Office came from Western-torn Arab countries. At least 82% of applicants from these nations are accepted in the UK.

Between August 2022 and January 17, 2023, the Home Office sent notices of intent to every participant in the survey. Anyone who gets such a notification could end up being transported to Rwanda.

When she was home secretary, Patel said: “In the last 12 months alone, 70% of the individuals who have come to our country illegally via small boats are single men, who are effectively economic migrants. They are not genuine asylum seekers … These are the ones who are elbowing out the women and children, who are at risk and fleeing persecution.”

Related News

Trump sets record-low refugee cap in new immigration policy shift

Rukban Syrian displacement camp near Jordan border shut down

But among those in the new analysis, 13 are female. 20% of the sample as a whole are parents, and 42% are either married or engaged. Two-thirds have claimed to have experienced torture or modern-day slavery.

When the scheme was first piloted, the Home Office said it would be aimed at single men.

Is Rwanda the solution? 

A recent YouGov poll indicated that only 10% of those questioned agreed that sending individuals to Rwanda was the best method to address the issue of small boat arrivals. Despite the high court agreeing that this ruling can be appealed, it did rule the plan legal in December of last year.

On a red open-top London bus, protesters will go to the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday to voice their opposition to the plan. Banners aboard the bus urge the authorities to "scrap the cruel Rwanda plan."

Read next: UK judges rule Rwanda deportation plan is lawful

Spokesperson for Together With Refugees and chief executive of Safe Passage, Beth Gardiner-Smith, said: “This scheme is not just morally wrong; it’s expensive and unworkable. If our government were serious about tackling smuggling and saving lives at sea, they would scrap this plan and urgently expand safe routes for refugees.”

Moreover, Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, said “This brutal policy will not end small boat crossings, it won’t stop people smugglers and it won’t keep refugees safe. There is a kinder and more effective option: give safe passage to refugees in Calais.”

A Home Office spokesperson said that everyone in scope for relocation to Rwanda will be "individually assessed," without relocating any of them to a proper place.

“If an individual’s circumstances change after receipt of a notice of intent, this should be communicated to us at the earliest opportunity and their case will be reviewed.”

  • Refugees
  • UK's Rwanda asylum
  • Rwanda asylum
  • asylum seekers
  • UK
  • United Kingdom
  • Rwanda
  • Immigration Policies

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025
Al-Quds Brigades strike a command and control center north of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, in an undated screengrab from the al-Quds Brigades military media

Gaza resistance announces major operations against Israeli forces

  • Politics
  • 1 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Retired Israeli General Brik says Israel has reached point of no return.
Politics

Retired Israeli General Brik: 'Israel has reached point of no return'

Depleted by foreign wars, US seeks to re-arm for another confrontation
Politics

Depleted by foreign wars, US seeks to re-arm for another confrontation

Gaza’s newborns gasp for life as hospitals collapse amid Israeli war
Health

Gaza newborns gasp for life, share oxygen masks amid collapsed system

UK arms exports to 'Israel' reach record high despite ban calls
Politics

UK arms exports to 'Israel' reach record high despite ban calls

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS