Security escorts on the axed Rwanda deportation flight started celebrating when the call came in to let asylum seekers off the plane.
One of the seven people on the grounded service has revealed it was “a harrowing experience” with people “crying and begging to be taken off”.
The man, whose details are not being revealed, added the security team’s reaction showed “even staff didn’t want to carry out this flight”.
The first flight scheduled to take asylum seekers to Rwanda was grounded at MoD Boscombe Down, near Salisbury, Wilts, at the last minute on Tuesday after European judges intervened on human rights grounds.
A spokesman for refugee support group Detention Action said: “When the call came in that they were to be let off, some escorts celebrated. The man said it was traumatic, unnecessary and harrowing. He is now in a detention centre, still locked up with the threat of deportation.”
Another asylum seeker on the Boeing 767 said he is now being held in jail-like conditions with fences.
Ashraf, 46, fled Iran with his 21-year-old son Ali after being persecuted for being Christian.
He said: “There is no fresh air. My life has been taken away. It is not fair for me to be treated like this. Torture is not just about being flogged, it is to destroy your spirit.”
Ashraf and Ali nearly drowned when their boat capsized during the journey from France to Britain.
Refugees who cross the Channel in small boats are set to be electronically tagged. The 12-month pilot will be used on those who travel to Britain via what the Government terms “unnecessary and dangerous routes”.
The Home Office responded yesterday with a previously released statement in which Priti Patel outlined the policy will “help break the people smugglers and prevent loss of life”.
