LONDON - Britain condemned Rwanda for failing to investigate human rights violations just months before Boris Johnson agreed to deport thousands of asylum seekers there, according to the Independent.
A new multi-million-pound deal will see people seeking sanctuary in the UK flown 4,000 miles away to have their asylum claims processed by the east African country, in what the home secretary branded a “world-leading migration partnership”.
The British government has unveiled a £1.4 billion plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda while their applications are processed by the Home Office, a move that has already been described as “cruel and nasty” by the Refugee Council, “unworkable, unethical and extortionate” by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and “evil” by Ian Blackford of the Scottish National Party.
Announcing the plans on Thursday, the prime minister lauded Rwanda as “one of the safest countries in the world”, adding that it is “globally recognised for its record of welcoming and integrating migrants”.
But it has emerged that just 10 months before the agreement was signed, the UK raised alarm about a failure by authorities in Rwanda to properly investigate alleged human rights abuses and to protect and support victims of trafficking.
A statement by the UK’s international ambassador for human rights Rita French in July 2021 expressed “regret” that Rwanda was not conducting “transparent, credible and independent investigations into allegations of human rights violations including deaths in custody and torture”.
She added: “We were disappointed that Rwanda did not support the UK recommendation to screen, identify and provide support to trafficking victims, including those held in government transit centres.”
Britain itself has granted protection to dozens of Rwandans over the past decade, with 69 given asylum or humanitarian protection between 2011 and 2021.
Revealing details of the plans from the Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday, Priti Patel said the deal would enable deportees who are granted asylum in Rwanda to “build their lives” in the country.
She said the plan, which will see the UK pay Rwanda £120 million plus the cost of flights and accommodation, would “help break the people smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life while ensuring protection for the genuinely vulnerable”.
But experts have said it is “ludicrous” to think that asylum seekers will be able to build their lives in the country, citing human rights abuses and economic issues, and warned that many deportees would likely leave immediately and make their way back to Europe.
Rwanda is already home to more than 127,000 refugees, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, most of whom are in refugee camps and are not allowed to work.
