Inside the Home Office Rwanda revolt as officials run from Sunak’s ‘s**t show’

Home Office civil servants are “running away” from roles linked to the Rwanda scheme amid internal frustration over attempts to implement the Government’s “unworkable” plans, insiders have revealed.

Sources have told i that already high rates of staff departures in the department’s asylum division, could rise further as officials seek to transfer into different jobs or leave altogether, as Rishi Sunak’s July target date for getting a flight to Kigali off the ground approaches.

A fresh wave of legal challenges is expected, and civil servants are wrestling with an array of practical difficulties, including limited detention spaces for asylum seekers selected for transfer.

“This law is unworkable, not just inhumane,” said a civil servant involved in the scheme who revealed there was widespread discontent about it within the department.

The news follows i’s revelation that Home Office staff have been asked to apply for jobs in Rwanda to help process the asylum claims of migrants sent there from the UK.

Some officials in the department are understood to have been “delighted” when the Safety of Rwanda Act passed this week. But others oppose the plan on ethical grounds and many believe it remains unlawful, fearing they could be held personally liable.

The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, is considering launching a judicial review against the law, and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has not ruled out balloting for strike if operational staff are ordered to violate a European Court of Human Rights ruling.

“The only option staff currently have if they do not agree with the policy is to move to another role,” another official said.

“The asylum division had been running at 25 per cent attrition for a year because it has been a shit show generally, and they can see the clearance of the backlog of those we have no prospect of sending to Rwanda being another shit show.”

Huge backlogs and uncertainty about how to apply the Prime Minister’s flagship Illegal Migration Act mean that none of the 73,000 asylum claims lodged since 7 March 2023 have been processed, and the queue is growing every day.

Around 40,000 of those are small boat migrants that come under the scope of the Government’s new “duty to remove”, but remain in limbo because the Rwanda scheme has not been activated and there are no deals in place with other countries that could apply to the vast majority of cases.

The Prime Minister vowed on Monday that new laws “make it clear that if you are here illegally, you will not be able to stay”. But Home Office staff told i it would be impossible to detain and then deport that number of people.

“Assuming you can catch them all, the first problem is there is not enough detention space, or personnel,” said the official involved in the scheme. “Even with extraordinary detention powers you cannot detain them unchallenged for more than 28 days. It cannot work.”

The civil servant added that there was “a lot of discontent” inside the Home Office about the Rwanda scheme and wider “mess” of Government asylum policies, with civil servants struggling to meet performance targets and angered by incoming job cuts and a recent order to cut home-working from three to two days a week.

“The attrition rate has gone up because people are running away from anything directly involving Rwanda, so many are on temporary promotions and the new hires – mostly agency personnel – are left to do that job, hence why they leave fast,” he added.

“They are replacing people all the time. There’s always new people to train, while those with expert knowledge leave, so the quality of the work drops.”

A third official said that many staff in the Home Office’s asylum department were uncertain of their future, because the Government’s plans – if implemented – will dramatically reduce the number of claims they can consider.

“Although the Safety of Rwanda Act has now passed, we are still weeks from any flights and further legal challenge is anticipated,” she added. “We are looking at a possible change of leadership later in the year and Labour have said they will abolish the scheme. Most of the staff are agency and that has a fair attrition anyway, but permanent staff are concerned as to whether their roles have longevity.”

Last year’s Illegal Migration Act was intended to create a legal framework for swiftly deporting small boat migrants to Rwanda, but the Government has fallen back on older processes to set up an initial flight because it has not yet been brought into force.

The Refugee Council has predicted that the law could leave 115,575 asylum seekers in “permanent limbo” by the end of this year, because it bars the UK from processing their claims but there is insufficient capacity for them all to be deported to Rwanda.

The charity predicts the backlog will see the system “meltdown”. It calculates that because asylum seekers are banned from working to support themselves before being granted status, it would also cost the Government £17.1m a day to accommodate and support them.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the calculations indicate “the immense cost, chaos and human misery that the Illegal Migration Act and Rwanda plan will unleash”, adding: “It will lead to another entirely avoidable system meltdown. Instead of operating an effective and fair asylum system, the Government has recklessly brought in this misguided legislation without any apparent thought to its staggering costs and long-term consequences.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Home Office staff are committed to supporting the Government’s priority of stopping the boats and deliver in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

“Staff working on the Rwanda scheme are given all the support and training necessary to carry out their role. As the Prime Minister has made clear, we will get flights off the ground to Rwanda in the next ten-twelve weeks.”