How we fought the Rwanda plan
The Rwanda scheme was the Conservative government's cruel plan to send people who are seeking asylum in the UK away to Rwanda. This page explains all you need to know about the plan and how we fought against it.
In Freedom from Torture's therapy rooms up and down the country, the survivors of torture we work with have expressed their feelings of hopelessness in response to the government’s plans.
Read below to find out what the Rwanda plan meant for torture survivors and how we stood against the inhumane cash-for-humans scheme.
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How we fought the plan
The UK government looked to private airlines for its ‘cash-for-humans’ scheme. But with the support of thousands of people as part of our movement, we pressured multiple commercial airlines to rule themselves out of the scheme, including the one confirmed to have signed up to fly refugees to Rwanda in June 2022.
Our award-winning campaign would not have been possible without action from the public. Caring and compassionate people across the UK made hundreds of calls and sent over 30,000 letters to airlines suspected of involvement in the UK government’s cruel Rwanda scheme.
Led by survivors of torture, the campaign pressured Privilege Style to rule themselves out of the scheme in October 2022 after our actions caused disruption in Mallorca, Amsterdam and across the UK.
Freedom from Torture, with the help of CrowdJustice funders, also played a key role in the legal challenge against the Rwanda scheme. We provided expertise to the Court of Appeal demonstrating that survivors of torture struggle to disclose their harrowing experiences in a process that moves at breakneck speed – and with few safeguards to ensure they can challenge their removal.