Migrant reveals he paid £500 to be smuggled OUT of Britain and back to France to dodge Rwanda deportation as gangs moan they are ‘running out of passengers’… but Keir Starmer says Labour will scrap the scheme

A migrant has revealed how he paid a smuggling gang to get him out of Britain and back to France because he didn’t want to be sent to Rwanda.

Omar, who left Kurdistan two years ago after paying £12,000 to get to the UK, said his miserable experience in Britain persuaded him to return across the Channel.

The 52-year-old spoke to Sky News from a migrant camp in northern France as he explained how he ‘couldn’t cope with Britain anymore’.

‘They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda – I cannot go there,’ he said.

In a further sign the Government’s asylum scheme with Rwanda is already proving a deterrent to potential migrants, smugglers moaned they are running out of clients.

‘These are the last Kurdish customers I have. There are no more,’ one told the TV news channel, as they answered ‘Rwanda’ when asked why.

The Sky News footage was broadcast on the same day Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to ditch the ‘dead horse’ Rwanda scheme ‘straight away’ if he becomes PM.

In a further sign the Government’s asylum scheme with Rwanda is already proving a deterrent to potential migrants, smugglers moaned to Sky News they are running out of clients

The Sky News footage was broadcast on the same day Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to ditch the ‘dead horse’ Rwanda scheme ‘straight away’ if he becomes PM

In a speech in Dover, Sir Keir branded the Government’s agreement for asylum seekers to be deported to the African country as an ‘absolute waste of money’. 

He said: ‘It is not going to work, it is an absolute waste of money. It is a gimmick, not a solution. I’m not prepared to have a government that is run on gimmicks.’

The Labour leader insisted the issue of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats must be tackled ‘upstream’ as he fleshed out plans for a ‘Border Security Command’.

Sky News spoke to a series of migrants at a camp near Dunkirk after witnessing a fresh boatload of people attempt to leave the shore in northern France.

The report revealed how Omar was in Britain for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to return him to France.

‘Here there is no washing or bath,’ he said of conditions in the camp.

‘You can’t clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

‘Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn’t cope with Britain anymore.

‘They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda – I cannot go there.

‘So that’s why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old. 

‘It’s a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?’

But others were less bothered about the UK Government’s threat to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Barzan, also from Kurdistan, said: ‘People won’t stop, whatever you tell them.

‘Even if you tell them they will be taken to Africa, they would still go without hesitation. Rwanda is better than Kurdistan.

‘But in Britain there is work. The currency is strong. I’m young and I want to make a life for myself.’

Another man named Karwan said: ‘I think it’s a joke. Two years ago they started going on about Rwanda and nothing came of it. Now, it’s just for the sake of the election. Nothing else.’

Rishi Sunak has yet to see any migrants deported under the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which was signed in April 2022.

But the Prime Minister is aiming for the first deportation flights to begin in July, following the passing of fresh legislation in Parliament.

It was recently revealed how a failed asylum seeker had gone to Rwanda from Britain under a separate voluntary scheme after being paid around £3,000 of taxpayers’ cash.