Rwandan opposition had deplored UK deportation deal as ‘modern slavery’ but the government insist the rights of the migrants are duly respected.
Victoire Ingabire, the outspoken opposition figure, has used her case to argue that the asylum seekers are getting a bad deal, saying that most of the migrants fled their country because of poverty, war, dictatorships.
To him, “they will face the same problems in Rwanda, where they cannot express themselves for free, where they will not have the wellbeing they are looking for in the UK.
The Rwandan government strongly denies this. Its parliament has passed a law to address the concerns of Britain’s Supreme Court. This involved approving ratification of a recent treaty with the UK to strengthen protections for asylum seekers, including guarantees that they would not be sent back to the countries they’d fled.
According to Doris Uwicyeza Picard, Director of Rwanda’s Migration and Economic Development Partnership Coordination Unit, the country has been preparing since 2022 for the deportations.
Rwanda has welcomed other asylum seekers, and often points to a transit centre south of Kigali as proof that it can take care of them very well.
This is a camp that houses Africans who were stuck in Libya, trying to get to Europe, and is administered by the UN’s refugee agency.
It is a temporary haven for vulnerable people while they sort out next steps. They could choose to settle in Rwanda.
The UK unwanted migrants are lodged in Hope Hostel in Rwanda which the government recently prepared receive the migrants for 664 days. The bedrooms are laid out with care, furnished with details like prayer rugs and toiletries.
It has a football pitch and basketball court, for the migrants while cooks and cleaners busy themselves in a surreal performance of their duties.
The government had set aside procedures to process the migrants’ applications for asylum in Rwanda. If they don’t qualify they’ll still be eligible for residence permits. Or they could try to go to another country, but not back to the UK.
