Asylum seekers threatened with Rwanda deportation under Priti Patel scheme ‘go on hunger strike’

It’s the latest in a series of concerns raised about the wellbeing of asylum seekers, just weeks before the first flights are due to leave

More than a dozen asylum seekers being housed at an immigration removal centre near Gatwick airport reportedly went on hunger strike after the Home Office threatened them with deportation to Rwanda.

Seventeen people from Syria, Egypt and Sudan are said to have taken part in the protest at Brook House after they were told they would be sent to the central African nation as part of the UK government’s new agreement to “offshore” the asylum process.

The group, some of whom said they had begun to self-harm as a result of their imminent removal, were reportedly warned that taking part in the hunger strike could lead to them being “prioritised” for a flight to Rwanda.