LONDON - 

As if it was the fate of the Syrian refugees to be pursued by suffering wherever they moved, as hardly a number of Syrian asylum seekers in Britain felt the safety of reaching a country protected from the evils and horrors of war, until the British government rushed to them with a decision that caused fear and shock in their ranks.

Immediately after the British government passed a plan to deport unmarried asylum seekers to Rwanda, it became clear that the first group to be deported is a group of Syrians, despite all the legal and human rights confusion about this plan.

For weeks, many question marks remained about the persons who would be affected by the deportation plan to Rwanda, and the date of the start of the deportation process, and gradually many data began to appear about this controversial plan.

The first victims

According to data obtained by Al Jazeera Net from parliamentary sources following up on the file of deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, the first batch to be deported will be from about 15 Syrian asylum seekers, all of whom arrived in the country alone and not accompanied by their families.

The same sources who spoke to Al Jazeera confirmed that the deportation process will take place next week on a trip from Britain to Rwanda, specifically on June 14, and there the process of studying their asylum applications begins, after which they can obtain the right to stay and live in Rwanda.

As for the reasons for choosing the Syrian refugees, not others, to be the first to be deported, the sources expressed their astonishment at this choice, "because we believed that the last ones the government would consider deporting would be the Syrian refugees."


shock and fear

In a tone not without frustration, Othman Moqbel, head of the "Syria Relief" Foundation (SYRIA RELIEF) in Britain, spoke to Al Jazeera Net, expressing his fear that Syrian asylum seekers will have the lion's share of this deportation process.

Othman Moqbel confirmed that his institution, along with a large number of institutions, is trying to plead to prevent the deportation of refugees, "but the British government deals with a deaf logic and does not respond to anyone because it knows that it has an absolute majority in Parliament."

Osman Moqbel described the atmosphere among a number of asylum seekers as "an atmosphere of fear and shock, and this is normal. After a difficult journey to reach safety, you find yourself threatened with deportation to Rwanda again."

The humanitarian activist described the Syrian asylum seekers as "the weakest link, and there is a message the Western government wants to convey to them, which is to return to Syria under the pretext that it has become safe," stressing that the testimonies he obtained from the Syrians "confirm that everyone who returns to Damascus disappears."

worry and frustration

Claire Moseley, founding director of the refugee rights group Care4calais, revealed that his organization had spoken to more than 100 asylum seekers who had been told to prepare for deportation to Rwanda despite their refusal to do so.

In his statement to Al Jazeera Net, the British humanitarian activist confirmed that the prevailing feeling among these "is fear, shock and frustration," adding that asylum seekers believed that "the United Kingdom would be a better place to live and that it would deal with them more just and equitably than the places from which they fled."


Claire Moseley stressed the position of many British human rights organizations, which see the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as "a plan that does not respect the law, and we hope that the Supreme Court will agree with this proposal."

Recourse to court

The human rights associations concerned with the refugee issue in Britain entered a race against time to stop the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Respect human rights and British laws or not.

Three institutions, namely the Syndicate of Public and Commercial Services (PCS), Care4Calais, and Detention Action, announced their support for 4 asylum seekers who will be deported next week, in order to submit their grievance to the Supreme Court, which It has the power to annul the decision of the British Home Office and prevent their deportation.

A famous law firm in London was assigned to follow up on this urgent case, and the defense pleading will focus on a number of grounds, including that the Ministry of the Interior should not have the absolute authority to deport refugees, and then also, refute the description of Rwanda as a safe country and will not be exposed Where the refugees are at any risk to their lives, as well as the human rights situation of the country there and the health situation there as well, to reach the conclusion that deporting asylum seekers there will put their lives at risk.

It is expected that the Supreme Court will begin examining this file this week, because it is an urgent request to stop the deportation process, which will start next week, and if the Supreme Court rules that the deportation of asylum seekers is invalid, it will be a painful blow to the government of Boris Johnson.