Gransnet forums

News & politics

Page 8 of 8 | First | Previous | Next | Last
| Flip | Customise |

‘Signs of violence’: asylum seekers arriving in France injured after being deported from UK. Do Asylum seekers deserve to be kept safe from harm and injury on arrival in the UK?

(181 Posts)
Add comment | Report
LemonJam Mon 14-Sept-26 16:58:20

Is the UK in danger of losing empathy for those seeking asylum whilst their claims are being processed? French health service documents injuries including fractures and bruising after detention and return under ‘one in one out’ scheme
.
The pilot scheme involves one asylum seeker who crosses the Channel in a small boat being returned to France in return for another in northern France being legally brought to the UK to claim asylum. The scheme is due to end on 1 October.
Samusocial de Paris (SSP) has been commissioned by Île-de-France’s regional health agency to provide healthcare for asylum seekers returned to France in the first eight days after their deportation from the UK, when they are accommodated in a shelter in Paris.

They have documented the cases of 90 returnees between 22 January and 7 June 2026. All are young men, mostly in their 20s and early-30s, who sought sanctuary in the UK after fleeing a variety of conflict zones including Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan. About 1,400 people have been forcibly removed to France by the Home Office since the scheme began in August 2025.

The evidence compiled by SSP has been submitted to the French Assembly’s cross-party inquiry into the impact of the Anglo-French border deals known as Le Touquet agreements. This evidence comes from their own clinical consultations with returnees and some hospital reports from those sent to A&E.

According to the report: “Consultations are revealing signs consistent with recent physical and psychological violence as well as the consequences of prolonged detention in conditions described as particularly degrading.” It states that the physical and psychological conditions documented are “explicitly linked to the implementation of the France-British agreement”.
The report adds: “The frequency and recurrence of the incidents reported by people transferred under the Franco-British agreement appear particularly worrying.”

SSP recommends that a mechanism should be established to collect information on allegations of mistreatment by the British authorities that can be sent to the UK. It also suggests reporting this issue to the French prosecutor under article 40 of the French code of criminal procedure.

Nihal Osman, a programme coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières, which also provides health support for this group of returnees, said: “This one in one out agreement is a machine for psychological destruction. The deeply concerning physical injuries sustained whilst in detention in the United Kingdom, which we have documented among those deported, must be viewed in the light of a serious psychological deterioration.”

The UK Home Office and the company Mitie, which provides the guards for the asylum seekers, have been approached for comment.

Add comment | Report
petra Fri 02-Oct-26 17:48:54

LemonJam

sundowngirl

Rwanda seems safe enough now for the US and some EU countries to send some of their migrants to.

Really! Which EU countries or indeed any world countries, including US, have been able to legally deem Rwanda "safe"?

Are you aware of how many asylum seekers each of those countries sent, at what cost per person and what court litigation is on going rearguing the legitimacy of transfers to Rwanda and whether it is a safe country? Do you personally think Rwanda is a safe country sundowngirl?

1) UK Rwanda scheme scrapped July 2024 as despite huge costs not one compulsory removal achieved.

2) Israel ran a limited volunteer departure programme 2015 to 2018 -scrapped entirely by 2019.

3) Denmark, explored, proposed- but an active transfer agreement stalled- no agreement achieved, no asylum seekers sent.

4) The Trump administration reached a small agreement to deport some migrants, up to 250, to Rwanda and some transfers took place last year. Many of the transferred migrants were sent back to their home nations at further tax payer expense. According to a Congressional investigation it was reported the Trump administration paid Rwanda $7.5 million plus an additional estimated 601,864 in flight costs to accept *just 7 people. The report outlined many red flags in this scheme and concern that the Trump administration circumvented immigration law. Related Court litigation with ICE/plus administration is ongoing. Plus ofcourse mid term elections due in November.

Lemonjam
Afghanistan has.

www.iom.int/news/1000-days-after-school-ban-afghan-girls-defy-odds-and-thrive-rwanda

Add comment | Report
Casdon Fri 02-Oct-26 17:57:50

petra

Casdon

Millions of boats enter UK harbours every year, I don’t know how it would be possible to check every one before anybody disembarks.

Most private craft still raise the Q flag ( customs and Quarantine) and call up the coastguard.
Most sailors know that you will wait awhile for them to arrive.
What surprises me is that they went into a harbour 🤷‍♀️
There are thousands of creeks and saltings that they could have gone into and nobody would have known.
Having said that, we brought a boat back to the uk ( after Brexit) raised the flag. Called up coastguard, nobody answered.
It was a large private vessel. We could have had over 50 people aboard.
Once again it’s down to money and numbers.

I don’t suppose they thought they would be caught petra. I guess it would not result in a routine check of the vessel when the coastguard was contacted anyway, thinking of the logistics. I don’t know if it was a British registered boat, and whether it was owned by the smugglers?

Add comment | Report
LemonJam Fri 02-Oct-26 19:05:43

petra

LemonJam

sundowngirl

Rwanda seems safe enough now for the US and some EU countries to send some of their migrants to.

Really! Which EU countries or indeed any world countries, including US, have been able to legally deem Rwanda "safe"?

Are you aware of how many asylum seekers each of those countries sent, at what cost per person and what court litigation is on going rearguing the legitimacy of transfers to Rwanda and whether it is a safe country? Do you personally think Rwanda is a safe country sundowngirl?

1) UK Rwanda scheme scrapped July 2024 as despite huge costs not one compulsory removal achieved.

2) Israel ran a limited volunteer departure programme 2015 to 2018 -scrapped entirely by 2019.

3) Denmark, explored, proposed- but an active transfer agreement stalled- no agreement achieved, no asylum seekers sent.

4) The Trump administration reached a small agreement to deport some migrants, up to 250, to Rwanda and some transfers took place last year. Many of the transferred migrants were sent back to their home nations at further tax payer expense. According to a Congressional investigation it was reported the Trump administration paid Rwanda $7.5 million plus an additional estimated 601,864 in flight costs to accept *just 7 people. The report outlined many red flags in this scheme and concern that the Trump administration circumvented immigration law. Related Court litigation with ICE/plus administration is ongoing. Plus ofcourse mid term elections due in November.

Lemonjam
Afghanistan has.

www.iom.int/news/1000-days-after-school-ban-afghan-girls-defy-odds-and-thrive-rwanda

I wasn’t aware that of this SOLA scheme so thanks for the link Petra 👍.

It outlines that since the 18 September 2021 Afghan education ban for girls, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) organised for more than 40 Afghan girls move to Rwanda to an all girls boarding school to set up specifically as a School of Leadership Afghanistan ( SOLA), in a dedicated campus, to continue their secondary schooling since the start of 2023. 👏.

Then the IOM seeks to support the girls as they finish their secondary education to enrol at top institutions and universities world wide.

The IOM goal is to cultivate a leadership generation of Afghan women that once conditions on Afghanistan allow they will return back home to help rebuild their country and restore the rights of Afghan citizens.

I googled and found out that the UK will not support these Afghan young women once they leave Rwanda SOLA to enter UK universities due to strict visa restrictions. Good that some other global countries will offer support though.

Add comment | Report
LemonJam Fri 02-Oct-26 19:07:48

It's not a scheme to deport numbers of asylum seekers to Rwanda as a safe country though as they will leave as their education finishes at the dedicated, restricted campus school.

Add comment | Report
Maremia Fri 02-Oct-26 21:26:43

Did not know about that scheme.
Thanks petra.

Page 8 of 8 | First | Previous | Next | Last
| Flip | Customise |