ASYLUM seekers are set to be detained on Monday in a surprise Home Office operation in preparation for deportation to Rwanda, reports suggest.
The Guardian has reported that officials plan to hold refugees who turn up for routine meetings at immigration service offices and will also pick up people nationwide in a two-week exercise.
They are to be immediately transferred to detention centres, which have already been prepared for the operation, and held to be put on later flights to Rwanda. Others identified for these flights are already being held.
Police in Scotland have subsequently been put on alert because of the high risks of street protests and attempts by pro-refugee campaigners to stop detentions.
Deportations have been prevented in Scotland before via mass protests on Kenmure Street in Glasgow in May 2021 and in Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, in June 2022.
READ MORE: Ruth Wishart: Who is left standing after a week of high drama at Holyrood?
On both occasions, hundreds of locals surrounded immigration enforcement vehicles to prevent asylum seekers being removed after tense standoffs between protesters and police.
The protest in Kenmure Street prevented the detention of two Sikh men of Indian origin by the Home Office.
It is thought the launch of the Home Office operation has been timed to coincide with Thursday’s local council elections in England.
Rishi Sunak stated last week the first flights to Rwanda would take off in “10 to 12 weeks” after the Government forced its controversial bill legalising the flights through Westminster.
Police Scotland officers will not take part in the detentions for the Rwanda flights operation but will take part in crowd control and policing the Border Force’s operations.
Speaking on Monday before the Lords and Commons sat through the night to pass the safety of Rwanda (Asylum And Immigration) Bill, Sunak said: “To detain people while we prepare to remove them, we’ve increased detention spaces to 2200.
“To quickly process claims, we’ve got 200 trained, dedicated caseworkers ready and waiting. To deal with any legal cases quickly and decisively, the judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5000 sitting days.”
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