ALBAWABA - As refugees, whom UK's Rwanda Asylum Plan targets, either fled to Ireland or found their ways to lay low from the eyes of the government, the Home Office is dealing with growing fallout from the high-profile roundups of asylum seekers it wants to send to Rwanda.
Officials began gathering up asylum seekers in order to imprison them for the Rwanda plan a week ago, with at least one going on hunger strike and another threatening suicide.
While the government has aggressively broadcast its warning about keeping people in Rwanda, it is unclear whether officials anticipated that some asylum seekers would go into hiding while others would travel to Ireland.
According to Lou Calvey, director of the charity Refugee Matters, "Frontline asylum charities report people leaving their asylum accommodation to avoid arrest." They are expressing concerns about the rising risks of poverty and exploitation.
The first week of roundups of asylum seekers in Rwanda has failed to stop small boat crossings, with 1,420 people crossing in the last seven days as of Sunday. This number includes the greatest day total so far this year, with 711 crossings last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, just days after officials removed an asylum seeker tent city from the center of Dublin outside the International Protection Accommodation Services center, the tents have returned to their original location.
Both sides of the city's Grand Canal are lined with approximately 70 blue tarpaulin tents donated by organizations to asylum seekers from Nigeria and Afghanistan.
The Irish authorities expect to give more housing later this week to deal with the unprecedented number of people requesting international protection, some of whom are arriving from the United Kingdom.
Helen McEntee, Ireland's justice minister, has stated that 80% of the immigrants came from Northern Ireland. Later in the week, Dublin assessed it to be around 90%.
A few days ago, at a quiet Home Office reporting center, one Ethiopian asylum seeker who is in line for removal to Rwanda due to his date of arrival in the UK stated he was "very worried" about being held when he stepped inside.
