Glasgow man "detained without food and water for 10 hours"

Abdullah Salami, who lives North Glasgow, had been attending a routine appointment at the Home Office when he was suddenly put into a car and taken to London, according to SNP Anne McLaughlin.

It is believed that the 21-year-old is being deported to east Africa after the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law last week.

Glasgow has protested the Rwanda Act (Image: Sourced)

It is the Government’s bid to get flights of migrants off the ground by July this year.

Now McLaughin is slamming the “cruel” treatment as she claims the “vulnerable young man” is her constituent.

She claimed during contact with him he explained his phone was also taken off him during the “terrifying” ordeal, leaving him unable to tell friends and family what was happening.

READ MORE: Protesters vowed to stop deportation of Easterhouse neighbours

In e-mails with the Glasgow Times McLaughlin said: “I’ve finally made contact with my 21-year-old constituent who was detained yesterday.

“He was attending a routine appointment at the Home Office in Glasgow when he was told that someone else wanted to talk to him.

“He was told he was being detained and subsequently transported somewhere else in Glasgow where he was picked up in a Home Office van and driven 10 hours to London.

“His phone was taken from him and he was given no food or water during the entire 10 hour journey.

“I can’t tell you how disgusted I am with the Home Office officials who are allowing this to happen.

She added: “Today, Rishi Sunak will try to tell us that they are ‘safely and swiftly’ detaining asylum seekers who will be deported – but how safe is it to transport a young, vulnerable and terrified person for 10 hours in a van with no food or water?

“I will be doing everything within my power to make sure this cruelty ends now.”

Glasgow has protested the Rwanda Act (Image: Sourced)

We previously reported that according to a Government document released this week, only 2,143 out of the 5,700 people identified for removal to Rwanda “continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention”.

Published on the Home Office website on Monday, the document also acknowledges there could be further delays to deportations caused by MPs making last-minute representations to suspend removals.

Officials have not yet said how many people have been detained, or where they were taken into custody.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The first illegal migrants set to be removed to Rwanda have now been detained by highly trained operational teams, following a series of nationwide operations this week. 

“We will get flights off the ground to Rwanda in the next nine to eleven weeks, creating the deterrent effect to help break up the people smuggling business model and stop the boats.”