London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Asylum seekers stage hunger strike as UK prepares Rwanda deportation

Asylum seekers stage hunger strike as UK prepares Rwanda deportation

Asylum seekers at an immigration detention centre in the UK say they went on hunger strike after being told they would be deported to Rwanda.

An excerpt of the document given to the asylum seekers by the Home Office to inform them they will be flown to Rwanda on 14 June.

Seventeen asylum seekers at Brook House detention centre near Gatwick Airport, Sussex, have told the BBC of an atmosphere of distress and despair among detainees.

In April the government announced plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

But the UK Home Office says detainee welfare is of the "utmost importance".

The asylum seekers have shared with the BBC details of the removal notices issued.

One document, dated 1 June, identifies an asylum seeker detained in Brooke House for imminent removal to the Rwandan capital Kigali. It says he cannot appeal this decision.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the first deportation flight, to take people who arrived in the UK without authorisation, is to leave on 14 June - a week later than first announced.

Following the introduction of the Nationality and Borders Act in April, the government will transfer to a "safe third country" - Rwanda - responsibility for providing asylum to those who arrive in the UK by irregular routes, such as crossing the English Channel in a boat from France.

The measure to fly these asylum seekers 4,500 miles (7,240km) to Rwanda is part of a £120m ($151m) deal with the central African nation.

Speaking to the BBC, one asylum seeker said he was among a group of 17 who ended a five-day hunger strike on Wednesday evening, after guards stopped providing them with sugar to mix with their water while abstaining from food.

Ali, who says he has family in the UK, told the BBC that his last meeting with immigration officials was about ending his hunger strike. "The final thing they told me was 'eat so you can get on the aeroplane in good health'."

Those who went on hunger strike include Egyptian asylum seekers, among an estimated 100 arrivals notified by the Home Office that they are to be deported to Rwanda. One group received a removal notice on Wednesday about a 14 June flight.

The detainees said that authorities at Brook House had prohibited phones with cameras, confiscating their smartphones and providing them only with phones without access to the internet.

The BBC managed to receive a full copy of the removal notice that details their situation. The letter, more than 20 pages long, was only issued in English. However one section notes that an interpreter was present to explain its contents to an asylum seeker. The document repeatedly misspelled the man's name.

Two separate asylum seekers asked our reporter about the contents of the document, which requires their signature, due to their inability to understand its details in English.

The document says the reason for the deportation is the people arrived on an "RHIB" - a rigid-hull inflatable boat - and they had no documentation to prove entitlement to be in the UK


The Home Office has not confirmed how many people have been issued with removal notices. However the charity Care4Calais estimates that around 100 asylum seekers who have arrived over the last month have been warned of imminent removal from the UK.

Care4Calais has identified and is offering support to more than 60 of them.

A man from Syria, who is wanted for military service at home, told the BBC he was "ready to die, but not be moved to Rwanda".

He said: "When I heard the news that we will be deported to Rwanda and that we will receive a five-year residence permit there I started hitting myself."

In response to questions about the hunger strike inside Brook House, a Home Office spokesperson said: "The health and welfare of those in immigration detention is of the utmost importance.

"We take every step to prevent self-harm or suicide, including a dedicated welfare team on site at each immigration removal centre, responsible for identifying vulnerable individuals and providing assistance to support individuals' needs."

An Egyptian man told the BBC he was among the 17 who had gone on hunger strike. "I didn't get a meeting with the Home Office without going on a hunger strike twice," he said.

"I had to leave my country for family disputes. I have a mental health problem from what I've witnessed in Libya on the journey here."

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel travelled to Rwanda to sign the deal


As part of Tuesday's announcement on flights beginning in mid-June, Home Secretary Priti Patel said "we know attempts will now be made to frustrate the process and delay removals; I will not be deterred and remain fully committed to delivering what the British public expect."

However, Steven Galliver-Andrew, a barrister working in immigration law, has told the BBC he believes the government will not keep to 14 June for the first deportation flight.

He said: "The law which allows the government to do this doesn't appear to come into force until the 28th of June 2022.

"What they are doing can and will be challenged - and they know and expect that."


A tour of the Rwandan hotel where some UK asylum seekers will stay


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×