Protesters try to stop UK migrant removals from temporary accommodation
Published : Friday, 3 May, 2024 at 12:00 AM Count : 268
LONDON, May 2: Protesters in London tried Thursday to prevent the removal of migrants from their temporary accommodation, as the UK government began detaining people before controversial deportation flights to Rwanda start.
Dozens of people surrounded a bus believed to be taking asylum seekers from a hotel in the Peckham area of the British capital to an accommodation barge moored off the south coast of England.
Several other protests have been held or are planned around the country to stop immigration officers detaining migrants.
The UK interior ministry this week confirmed that it has begun detaining asylum seekers before planned deportation to Rwanda, after parliament passed a law declaring it a safe country.
Several migrants were seen in photos and video footage released by the ministry being taken away in handcuffs by immigration officers.
The ministry has not confirmed how many people have been held so far, but the government says it expects Rwanda to take 5,700 migrants this year.
The protests come after official figures published on Thursday showed that 711 people were brought ashore the previous day after trying to cross the Channel in small boats from northern France. —AFP
