HUNDREDS are set to protest outside detention centres this weekend against the Tories’ “racist, punitive and illegal” Rwanda policy ahead of a major High Court case challenging the scheme. 

The rallies are due to be held on Sunday at detention sites near Heathrow and Manchester airports. They are aimed at showing solidarity with detained asylum-seekers facing removal to the east African country, organisers said. 

It comes a day before the start of a legal challenge against the policy at the High Court on Monday, brought by Care4Calais, Detention Action and Border Force workers’ union PCS, as well as several asylum-seekers.

Sunday’s protests have been organised by Action Against Detention and Deportations – a new coalition made up migrant and refugee rights groups including Barac UK, Global Justice Now and SOAS Detainee Support. 

The coalition, which launched yesterday, said it aims to end the “inherently unjust practices of detention and deportation.”

Public opposition against the Rwanda deal alongside legal action is “urgent and crucial,” following reports that the Home Office is planning another flight to the African country despite ongoing legal proceedings, it added.   

Another protest outside Yarl’s Wood in Bedford on Saturday, September 10, at 3pm, has also been planned. 

Many asylum-seekers who were booked onto the June 14 flight to Rwanda, which was cancelled following a series of legal actions, have remained in detention, according to campaigners. 

Gloria Peters, a member of All African Women’s Group, which is also a member of the coalition, said: “As African women, we know that Rwanda isn't safe. The genocide has left an indelible mark. 

“Many of us are survivors of rape and other torture and our lives will be at risk there. Our countries have been bombed, our lands and homes destroyed, our wealth stolen. We have a right to be here.”

Barac national chair Zita Holbourne said: “This vile policy of targeting vulnerable people who have already had to flee for their lives and dumping them in Rwanda is inhumane and breaches international human rights laws.”

SOAS Detainee Support coordinator Joseph Maggs said: “We stand with our migrant brothers and sisters and will not allow anyone to be deported under this brutal plan, which is rooted in Britain's ongoing history of racism and colonialism.”

For more details on where and when the protests are taking place visit: https://sites.google.com/view/no-deportations/home?authuser=0