Home Office hires hangar to train officials on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda


Guards have already undergone special training programmes to deal with “disruptive” people.

Security officials are also preparing for the prospect of demonstrations by campaigners outside an airbase in an attempt to stop flights, the Times said.

It is estimated that five officers will be needed for each migrant being removed.

The Home Office did not deny the report.

A spokesperson said: “Since 2015, the government has had training facilities to ensure escorts can respond professionally to the challenges of removing people with no right to be in the UK.”

“This includes practical sessions, so escorts have the skills they need to deal with different scenarios.”

“As we ramp up removal activity, we will continue to ensure new escorts have the training facilities necessary.”

Overseas escorts on deportation flights must undergo the Home Office Manual for Escorting Safely (HOMES) training course, that covers which restraint techniques to use in different scenarios.

This is alongside a wider Initial Training Court (ITC) about how to remove people safely.

Scenarios that are being practised include migrants resorting to violence to prevent being put on a plane or Extinction Rebellion-style protests where individuals “play dead” by lying on the floor and refusing to move.

They are also preparing for the prospect of dirty protests and demonstrations by campaigners outside the airbase in an attempt to halt flights.

The location of the aircraft hangar, which is normally hired as a film studio by production companies, has not been disclosed but a government source said that the Home Office had signed a one-year contract for the site.

The first Rwanda flights are understood to be expected to take off from the Ministry of Defence airfield at Boscombe Down near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

This is where the first deportation flight was due to leave for Kigali in June 2022 until the plane was grounded at the eleventh hour after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg granted an interim injunction.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous Story

SNP leader Humza Yousaf's plot over Erdogan invite torn apart: 'First minister of Gaza!'

Next Story

Insane moment Russian tank is blown up hurling soldier into the sky for over 10 seconds