An Albanian asylum seeker and alleged victim of human trafficking has told the Guardian that he is in a “very bad mental state” as he hopes to board a deportation flight to Rwanda, a country of which he knows “nothing” “.
The 26-year-old Albanian man is one of seven asylum seekers who have filed last-minute legal challenges to avoid being forcibly transferred to the East African country. Others include three Iranians, an Iraqi and a Vietnamese asylum seeker. They all arrived in the UK in small boats in mid-May.
Suspected victims of trafficking are supposed to fully investigate their cases before they can be withdrawn from the UK.
Activists block road to detention center to try to stop flight to Rwanda – video
The Albanian man said: “I was exploited by traffickers in Albania for six months. I was trafficked to France. I didn’t know which country they were taking me to.”
He said that when he was put on a small boat in the north of France, he was told that other traffickers were waiting for him when he arrived in the United Kingdom. “I’m in a very bad state of mind. I didn’t know anything about Rwanda. I’ve never been to Africa and I don’t think it’s safe for me. I can’t go back to Albania because the traffickers there will kill me. the safe place for me is the UK. How can they send an Albanian to Africa? “
The man said he had thought about taking his own life instead of getting on the plane.
One of the Iranian men who was to fly said: “I was expecting support from the UK government, but I have not received any, so I ask the British people to support me. I have a son in the UK, but if I “I’m sent to Rwanda, I can’t see him. I’m very stressed and both my son and I have a very bad mental health situation. to think that there was justice here, but I have not found justice in this country. “
Boris Johnson says laws “may need to be changed” for Rwanda’s plan to move forward: video
A second Iranian man, who is also scheduled to be deported, said: “I was involved in a peaceful and democratic policy against the Iranian regime. The government executed my cousin and detained and tortured my uncle for four years.
“If I stayed in Iran, I would also be executed or at least sentenced to 30 years in prison. I escaped from a brutal regime. I am not a criminal. I want the UK government to know that only I want to live in peace. Because of the good diplomatic relations between Iran and Rwanda, I am concerned that if I am sent to Rwanda … the Rwandan government will return me to Iran. “
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Another long-awaited deportee, a 25-year-old Iraqi Kurdish man, said he fled Iraq after receiving threats from high-ranking relatives. He came to the UK because his sister lives there. Of the 53 people on the boat he was traveling in, 14 were detained while the others were in hotels. He eventually found a lawyer who filed an urgent lawsuit against him. She is a potential victim of trafficking.
He said a group of six detainees, all due to fly on Tuesday evening, were being held at the Colnbrook Immigrant Detention Center near Heathrow Airport. “No one can sleep. We all have nightmares if we close our eyes. We are all mentally exhausted,” he said.
“It simply came to our notice then that we were being sent to Rwanda by force. It’s too much to think about. My message to anyone who listens to me is, ‘Please stop the plane.’ “
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In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted at 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the U.S., the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the Lifeline Crisis Support Service is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.