The migrant camp at Lower Mount street Dublin. (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
Asylum seekers camping in squalid conditions claimed UK-based criminals were charging up to ￡3,600 for passage from Belfast.
And many declared the only reason they travelled to the Irish capital was the looming threat of a one-way flight to Kigali. The Daily Express last week revealed the first flight to Rwanda could take off in June.
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Among those living near Ireland’s International Protection Office, was a Sudanese asylum seeker, Abdul, who fled a migrant hotel in London in 2022 after being told he would be on one of the original flights to Rwanda – before the policy was grounded for two years by legal challenges.
Mr Mhammed, 20, said: “The UK says ‘go to Rwanda’. The UK is safe, but now it says to go Rwanda and it is not safe. If the UK was not saying anything, I would not come here.
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“I crossed because they want to send me to Rwanda. I don’t want to go. I crossed in a small boat.
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“It is not safe. I was sent a letter in my hotel. I was in a hotel in London. I received the letter in 2022. I left the hotel, went to stay with my friend, then after that, I came here.
“I took a bus from London to Liverpool, then went from Liverpool to Belfast by boat. I then took a bus. I did it by myself.
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Asylum seekers told the Express they feared deportation to Rwanda (Image: Huphrey Nemar)
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“Every country in Africa is not safe. Before, did you know the story of Rwanda? It was very bad. I arrived in the UK in 2022. I stayed for two years. I arrived in Dublin 20 days ago. I went from London, to Belfast, to Dublin in one day.
“I am more confident about my position here than I am in the UK. Here, they don’t say anything.”
Migrants are also choosing other countries, other than Ireland, to avoid the threat of deportation to Rwanda, it is understood.
Married father-of-two Mohammed Alsafe, from the West Bank, revealed: “I crossed the border by car, someone drove me.
“I gave him money. That man, he tells me, give me money and come here. I gave him money in Belfast. I didn’t know where I was going. I was in the car, boxed up.
“In the UK, there are no visas. The Government will maybe make you go to Rwanda. I think the UK Government will pay for you to go to Rwanda.”
Asked about the smuggler, Mr Alsafe added: “I saw him on Facebook. I paid 4,300 Euros (￡3,600) to take me from Belfast to Dublin. He was a UK person.”
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The father-of-two was speaking in a tiny one-person tent, covered by a piece of tarpaulin just yards from the door to the International Protection Office.
There, dozens of migrants arrived throughout the day hoping to register for asylum accommodation. But Ireland has an acute housing crisis, forcing migrants to live outside.
The camp, dubbed Dublin’s migrant tent city, has grown rapidly in recent weeks, according to inhabitants, mainly fuelled by people arriving from the UK.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted it is proof that the threat of deportation to Kigali is deterring migrants from crossing the English Channel.
But Irish premier Simon Harris has claimed there is an “operating agreement” to allow asylum seekers to be returned between both countries.
And the Irish Department of Justice said 100 police officers would be deployed to catch more migrants crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The Department said it could take 12 months for work to intensify, adding amid fears of a return to a ‘hard border’: “It is not the case that these Gardai will be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland”.
Mahmoud, 28, a driver who fled after he arrived in the UK from Jordan, said: “The problem with Britain is that they might send us to Rwanda. I came two months ago because I am scared about this.”
Mahmoud fled his homeland in January after having an extra-marital affair, which led to death threats.
He said: “I could have been killed. I had a relationship with a married woman and then my wife found out and her family found out and then her brothers wanted to kill me. Speaking honestly, if my problem could be solved, I would go home now.”
"I would rather live here than Rwanda" - Amir Zaeb (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
Amir Zeab, 39, from Pakistan, said: “Ireland is better than the UK. The UK Government is sending people to Rwanda. This life is better than life in Rwanda.
“If the UK Government sends people to Rwanda, a lot more people will come here.”
Another Pakistani migrant, who refused to be named, added: “More people come here [to Ireland] to avoid going to Rwanda.
“To here, and to other European countries. Not just here. From the UK, they will go here.
“I have seen the news that they are only heading to Ireland. That is not the case. They have been to more countries. I know that.
“They left the UK because of Rwanda.”
Otumba, a Nigerian asylum seeker in his 40s, said: “When I heard that the Rwanda Bill was going to be passed in no time, I was so scared.
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“And people advised me to go to Ireland and said they were going to be really accommodating.
“I didn’t know we were going to be sleeping in tents. I thought we were going to get proper houses and stuff.
“Now I hear that Ireland wants to send us back to the UK. No, we’re not going anywhere.”
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