A SYRIAN man who faces deportation from the UK to Rwanda after fleeing for his life is fighting for his right to claim asylum through the Scottish courts.
In an exclusive published by The Ferret and The Sunday Post, the father of three says he was detained and tortured in Syria, where he feared for his life. In desperation, he paid a people smuggler over £10,000 to escape.
He says he found himself “staring death in the face” when travelling to the UK in the hope of protection, when he was rescued from a sinking boat. Following his traumatic journey, the man was then detained at Brook House detention centre near Gatwick.
Here he was told he would be deported to Rwanda - leaving him fearing for his own life, and that of his wife and three young children who are still in Syria.
“The things I have seen nobody should see,” the man told The Ferret. “When I arrived here I thought the terror was over but it was not. Now I want my voice to reach everyone so they can know what is happening to us.”
However with help from his brother-in-law Monir who is a Syrian refugee based in Glasgow, their friend and interpreter Mohammed, and solicitor Kyle Dalziel from Latta Law, he was bailed from immigration detention. The man is currently preparing to bring his case to the Scottish courts.
He told The Ferret he eventually hopes to be granted refugee status, and bring his wife and three children to the UK through the family reunion scheme.
The UK Government’s plan to deport and permanently resettle people entering the UK through routes they deem illegal to Rwanda has drawn international condemnation. The UNHCR has stated the UK Government’s proposals are in breach of international law, calling them “unacceptable” and an attempt to “shift responsibility”.
The Archbishop of Glasgow recently spoke out on the policy, stating that he is “appalled” and “scandalised”, branding the UK’s response to international refugee as “pathetic”, in a scathing takedown.
Speaking to STV News, he said: “I don’t know where our sense of hospitality has gone, our sense of reaching out to help those who are in need.
“That was a hallmark of this country I’m sure in the past, but that just seems to have gone by the board. Living at a time when there is a crisis of refugees. The United Nations tells us back in 2010 there were 40 million forcibly displaced people in the world.
“That’s people who have had to leave their homes, either because of warfare, or persecution, violence, or perhaps because of climate change and their crops have failed. Now, there’s 100 million of these people worldwide, the United Nations tells us.
“So, there’s this international crisis and our response is so pathetic, that we’re not prepared to welcome these people.
“And we’re going to send them off to Rwanda, not because that’s good for them, because we hope that the thought of going to Rwanda will deter them from crossing the Channel.
“And that’s really quite appalling.”
He continued: “If we want to help them, why doesn’t the Government allow them to apply for asylum outside the country? Why don’t they open up their embassies so that people can apply?”
A High Court ruling on Friday paved the way for a flight to the east African country to go ahead on Tuesday but an appeal against that decision is due to be heard on Monday.
