A refugee who came to the UK on a boat with 38 people on board said the government’s Rwanda policy is going around in circles “like a hamster wheel”.

Kaveh Khezri, 42, crossed the English Channel in April 2022, the day after then-prime minister Boris Johnson announced a plan to deport migrants arriving in small boats to Rwanda for their claims to be processed.

The father-of-two, who fled Iran after being tortured, found out about the policy by accident when he went to check the weather on his phone before the crossing.

Asked if the Rwanda policy has put people off travelling to the UK on small boats, he said: “People are desperate and they just want to get somewhere safe… I think, for me, it just provoked them to do something because they were ready for any challenges.

“Also, I think everybody in their mind, although they were scared of this, somehow on a very deep level they knew that it was a stupid scheme, that it was never going to go ahead.”

He added: “If they want to reduce the Channel crossings because, as they say, it is a risky journey, they need to provide some safe routes for people… It’s not rocket science.”