Eleven people earmarked for the first deportation flight to Rwanda staged a hunger strike to protest about their forced removal, according to a report from an independent watchdog. The annual report from the Independent Monitoring Board for Gatwick Immigration Removal Centre highlights grave concerns about how the Home Office managed the process of attempting to remove people to Rwanda, a controversial policy which the government says will deter small boat arrivals.

That first flight was cancelled shortly before it was due to take off from Boscombe Down Ministry of Defence site in Wiltshire after a last-minute intervention by the European court in June. The Court of Appeal found the Rwanda policy to be unlawful but government is due to appeal against that ruling in the supreme court in October. The report issues a series of warnings for government about its Rwanda policy.

“The board remains concerned that if this policy is fully implemented and men are detained prior to removal there is a high likelihood of real harm,” it states, adding that the process of removing people to Rwanda was “inadequate, resulting in unacceptable compromises to the men’s safety”.

One hundred people who were held in the Gatwick detention centre received notices of intent letters from the Home Office that there were plans to forcibly remove them to Rwanda. 

It has been reported that 128 people received notices for the inaugural flight – 28 at Heathrow immigration removal centre and the rest at Gatwick. Just one person from the Gatwick centre was taken to the airport in preparation for removal. The report found that he suffered a severe panic attack. 

A total of seven asylum seekers were taken to Boscombe Down for the aborted flight, six of whom were staying at the Heathrow immigration removal centre.

The report also raises concerns about the time removal directions were issued to those the Home Office hoped to remove to Rwanda. These removal directions were issued on 30 May, the queen’s jubilee weekend, when it was harder for people to access lawyers.

An earlier report from the IMB’s charter flight monitoring team published in June 2023 found that two of the seven people the Home Office tried to put on the flight to Rwanda were on constant observation due to their risk of suicide, with one put into a waist restraint belt.

Three of the seven were subjected to use of force. One person was not offered access to paramedics when he needed it. One man started praying on the airfield believing the plane would take off imminently while the report stated “two started to scream out their fear and distress, each trying to hurl his torso and head backwards and forwards”. Both were put into waist restraint belts.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We take the wellbeing and safety of those in our care incredibly seriously and have dedicated welfare teams across all sites who can escalate any instances of mental health or illness.

“There are also robust safeguarding measures in place to ensure everyone within our care, including vulnerable people, is treated with dignity and has access to the support they need including legal advice while in detention.”  By Diane Taylor, Guardian