LONDON: Asylum-seekers in the Britain have been left frightened and upset after the Home Office mistakenly sent official letters warning of their imminent deportation to Rwanda.
The UK’s controversial bill cementing a deal with Rwanda over the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers was being discussed in parliament.
The mistake is the latest controversy to beset the Home Office, which faced criticism for similar mistake sent in 2022.
A Syrian asylum-seeker, who arrived in Britain more than eighteen months ago, said that he was in despair when he received it and have not slept for almost a week thinking about what will happen to him if he is forced to go to Rwanda.
Other Syrians who arrived in the UK around the same time have since had their asylum cases fast-tracked and been provided with refugee status.
The letter, which was sent to the Syrian citizen’s lawyer, claimed that Rwanda had agreed to accept him as part of the migration agreement with Britain.
The British opposition Labour Party accused the government of being “in disarray” over the mistake.
Maria Wilby, the director of Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action, said that some of her clients had also been sent the letter.
The 2022 controversy, which involved asylum-seekers being warned of their possible deportation, had led to one of Wilby’s clients attempting to take their own life, she added.
Significant effects for asylum-seekers
She said that the impact of letters telling asylum-seekers they will be sent to Rwanda is significant and cannot be ignored.
To admit these letters were an error does nothing to mitigate the suffering of those who received them, Wilby said.
