‘We’ve tried to cross the Channel six times. Rwanda won’t stop us’

“Until now, no one has been taken to Rwanda… I’ll go to the UK whatever it takes.” These are the words of Jamal*, 30, who fled war in Sudan and is waiting in Calais’s makeshift camps to make his fourth attempt to cross the Channel.

Jamal, who dreams of becoming a doctor, is adamant that nothing will stop him from attempting to reach the UK.

Sudanese 25-year-old Samir*, 25, is also waiting in the bitterly freezing camps to make his fourth attempt to cross. He has already tried to make the journey three times – once in a lorry and twice in a small boat – but was stopped by French police.

“I’ve seen the Rwanda plan,” he said. “I won’t stop. I’m not afraid of Rwanda.”

i is visiting the migrant camps in northern France as Rishi Sunak’s flagship immigration policy, which would see those arriving by small boat sent to Rwanda, is being dragged over the line by ministers in the Commons after a string of legal challenges. The Tory party has been gripped by infighting in recent days over whether the current legislation is tough enough with a crucial vote set for Wednesday night.

“They [the Government] hope it [the Rwanda plan] will say that you’re not welcome, and that people will change their minds about coming because they don’t want to go to Rwanda,” Jamal told i from the Calais camp where he has been living for the last three months.

“But for me, I’ll go the UK whatever it takes. I’m not sure that plan will ever become reality, I think it might be a trick.”

The first flight to Rwanda was grounded in June 2022, after a series of last minute legal challenges. Since then, the scheme has been bogged down in a lengthy legal battle which culminated in the UK’s top court ruling that it was unlawful. Mr Sunak has since produced a new bill to make clear in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country, which MPs will vote on for the second time on Wednesday night.

Jamal believes that even if the plan is implemented, it could be reversed – and that no deterrence policy would prevent him from attempting to reach the UK.

“In 2024 there’s an election, maybe there’s a new Government in the UK. [Labour] have said if they won the election that’s the plan,” he said.

“There’s nothing the UK could say to stop me. It feels like they want to stop refugees from coming; by Rwanda plan, by paying the French. But they know they’re not going to stop this. Maybe they reduce [the number of crossings], but they’re not going to stop them – they will always be coming.”

Jamal said he had “no choice” but to try to reach the UK via small boat; his passport was lost on the years-long journey from Sudan, preventing him from arriving by plane, and there is no visa scheme for Sudanese refugees.

The Government operates a series of UN-led refugee resettlement schemes, but it is not possible for him to apply for these.

Jamal said he was “not afraid” of crossing the Channel in a dinghy despite the deaths of five people who tried to make the journey last week.

“I know it’s really dangerous and sometimes you lose some of your friends or family,” he said. “It can really get you down and make you sad. But they’ve no choice: they started this journey from their home with hope of getting a better life. They’re fighters. They overcome the feeling of being afraid. You’re still believing that you’re getting a better life.”

Samir, who has also been living in the camps in Calais for around three months, said he fled Sudan last year after the most recent war broke out. He said he would not be deterred by the Rwanda plan currently going through Parliament.

Samir told i that the prospect of getting in a small boat again made him afraid, but he does not plan to quit.

“I want to get protection from the war,” Samir said, saying there was no support or accommodation in France, which made him want to leave.

Mr Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill – designed to designate Rwanda a safe country after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled it was not- returned to Parliament on Tuesday as MPs debated a series of proposed amendments.

Nearly 60 Conservative MPs tried and failed to add amendments which they argued closed loopholes the bill.

The group must now decide whether to back the bill in its current form, or join the opposition parties and vote it down.

Downing Street appeared to be confident that the bill would pass, with more Tory MPs expected to hold their nose and vote for the bill than tank the Rwanda scheme.

*Names have been changed.