Volunteers answer calls to Bail for Immigration Detainees’ advice line, which handed referrals and provided legal support to people facing removal to Rwanda. Credit: Bail for Immigration Detainees.
The Rwanda Project was launched in response to mass detention under the UK government’s Rwanda Policy. Bail for Immigration Detainees, working with five partner law firms, secured bail for every client—many of whom have since been granted asylum.
The Campaign
The Rwanda Project was launched in response to the mass detention of asylum seekers targeted for removal under the UK government’s Rwanda Policy. It aimed to secure the release of those identified for removal by obtaining immigration bail, enabling them to pursue their protection claims from within the community. The project sought to prevent unlawful detention and deportation, particularly after the Supreme Court ruled that removals to Rwanda posed a real risk of refoulement. A key focus was securing legal representation for people who were unrepresented at the point of detention, ensuring access to justice and due process. The project also challenged the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 and related policies, defending the right to have claims fairly heard in the UK. Through legal action and advocacy, it worked to protect fundamental rights and reduce the harm caused by detention and enforced removals.
Former Rwanda Project Legal Manager, Bail for Immigration Detainees
The Change
The Rwanda Project successfully secured immigration bail for every asylum seeker it represented, preventing their removal to Rwanda and ensuring their release from detention. A total of 21 bail applications were submitted, all granted—a 100% success rate. Several individuals later received positive asylum decisions, affirming the importance of having their claims heard within the community.
Beyond individual outcomes, the project played a key role in exposing systemic flaws in the Rwanda Policy. It revealed how detainees—many of them survivors of torture—were held unlawfully, without proper consideration of their vulnerabilities. Legal arguments developed through the project fed into broader challenges, shaping judicial reviews and contributing to the national legal discourse on asylum rights.
The project also helped shift public perception, generating widespread media coverage in outlets such as The Guardian, The i Paper, BBC Radio 4, and Channel 4 News. This visibility increased pressure on policymakers and the Home Office to reconsider the legality and morality of enforced removals. By building a robust body of legal and factual evidence, BID helped strengthen future legal challenges and made it significantly harder for mass detentions and removals to proceed unchecked.
The Future
Through this case, BID gathered vital evidence exposing the Home Office’s unlawful detention practices. This evidence is now being used to challenge harmful policies and prevent future mass detentions of individuals who cannot lawfully be removed. A major positive outcome was the eventual scrapping of the Rwanda Plan. Building on the success of this project, the work has evolved into our Adults at Risk Project, which partners with legal firms to secure representation and bail for vulnerable adults in detention. They continue to fight for justice for people in detention and engage with the Home Office, challenging its expanding detention estate and demanding accountability for systemic rights violations.
