Migrant put on plane to Rwanda 'wanted to die' before flight cancelled at last minute

"I lost control of my body and my mind. I couldn't stand up. My hands were trembling. I was terrified," recalls Iranian asylum seeker Nasar Abdollahi as he describes being strapped into a plane seat and preparing to take off for Rwanda.

"They wanted to send us to Rwanda by force," he says. "They tried, but by the end it didn't work out, thank God."

It's six months now since lawyers managed to prevent the plane which Nasar and three other asylum seekers were on from leaving at the very last minute - forcing the government's controversial policy into the courts instead.

Nasar and his family were speaking to us ahead of a decision - due imminently - on whether the government's plan is lawful.

Nasar says: "I still fear someone will knock on my door and send me to the deportation centre and then send me to Rwanda."

Nasar says his concerns about travelling to Rwanda are based on the African country's "good relations" with Iran.

"If they're going to send me to Rwanda I wish I'd stayed in Iran and they'd just killed me there," he says.

Nasar's sister Shan says she can't contemplate the "nightmare" they went through last time happening again.

"How can I not be worried? The fear is still there," she says.

The government believes sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will act as a deterrent to those thinking of crossing the Channel.

Nasar admits he wishes he hadn't come to the UK because of what's happened to him.

He crossed the Channel by small boat in May. Nasar says he was politically active in Iran and had no choice but to flee - leaving behind his wife and child, hoping one day they would be able to join him in the UK.

He used smugglers to get him through Turkey and on to Italy. From there he reached northern France.

Like many other asylum seekers, the driver to cross the Channel was to reach family in the UK - in Nasar's case, his sister Shan.

But once Nasar arrived in Dover things didn't go as he'd hoped.

A few days after arriving he says he received a letter telling him he was at risk of being sent to Rwanda.

It's believed more than 100 asylum seekers were sent notices of intent after the government announced its new plan in April to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.

Successful applicants would stay there without a chance to be returned to the UK.

More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year - a huge increase on 2021, when it was fewer than 29,000. Many are put up in hotels while their claims are processed.

In the end, Nasar says he was one of just four people who the Home Office got as far as putting on a plane with the intention of flying them there.

Nasar describes how he physically lost control as was transported to the aircraft two months after arriving in the UK. The date was 14 June.

He says: "About four hours before they boarded us we became really stressed. Our lawyer said he couldn't do any more. I lost control of my body and my mind. I couldn't stand up. My hands were trembling. I was terrified. They had to hold my hand to get me into the car."

Once on board, Nasar describes how he and the other asylum seekers were restrained in their seats.

"We had handcuffs around our arms and straps around our waists," he says. "Our hands were tied and we couldn't move because it was so tight. We could only use our mouths to breathe and speak," he says.

"I felt genuine shock. I couldn't think straight. I was so, so sad and upset. But I never lost hope. I thought, 'no', the British government wouldn't do this. I couldn't speak. My eyes were closed and tears were streaming down my face. All I could do was cry.

"I felt like I was dying. I wanted to die. Every second my pain got worse. The fear was so bad, dying couldn't be worse."

But, simultaneously, an extraordinary legal tussle was playing out - which ended with Nasar's sister Shan actually breaking the news to her brother that the flight had been aborted.

Nasar's solicitor had called Shan but they had no way of reaching Nasar, who'd had his phone taken off him and doesn't speak English.

At around 10pm Nasar was allowed to use someone else's phone to make what he thought was a final phone call to his sister to say goodbye before take-off.

Shan excitedly recalls the conversation. She says: "Nasar said 'Hi Shan.' I said: 'Nasar I've got good news - the flight is cancelled.' He said: 'But we're on the plane and the plane nearly fly off.' I said: 'Don't worry it's cancelled'."

Shan then describes how she could hear the joy on the plane as her brother broke the news to the others.

She said: "He (her brother) said 'Shan, can you listen to the voices. Everyone was crying. The people who were on the plane. Begging and crying. He said: 'Can you listen - they're all crying'.

"I said: 'Don't worry you can tell them it's cancelled.' I shouted: 'Don't worry cancel cancel' - I knew this word cancel. They all stopped crying. Like hope came back to them."

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Shan excitedly goes on: "The emotion - oh God it's hard to express the emotion. It was the happiest time. You think something terrible has happened but at the end of it it's cancelled and it didn't happen. I was so happy I couldn't believe it."

Nasar's solicitor, Qays Sediqi, told Sky News: "We hope nobody is going to be on a flight to Rwanda but I cannot promise that it all depends on how the court will rule but we will do everything within our power to essentially show that the policy is unlawful. We hope the courts will agree with us and eventually abolish the policy."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our ground-breaking Migration and Economic Development Partnership will see those who come to the UK through dangerous, illegal and unnecessary routes relocated to Rwanda.

"We expected legal challenges to this innovative plan and remain determined to make this work so we can break the business model of the evil people smugglers and prevent people risking their lives by making dangerous journeys across the Channel."