Rwanda already engaged in migrant reception projects with other countries

The partnership between London and Kigali on the management of the reception of migrants is controversial.

(illustrative image) AFP PHOTO PHILIPPE HUGUEN

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

Is Rwanda becoming a subcontractor for the care of asylum seekers for European countries?

The country has just signed a very controversial agreement on Thursday April 15 with the United Kingdom, which wishes to deport its illegal immigrants there.

For Kigali, this is not exactly a first, since Rwanda has already been involved for several years in various projects for the reception and resettlement of migrants. 

Advertisement

Read more

From 2014, a very opaque agreement with Israel created controversy.

It already plans to send asylum seekers to Uganda and Rwanda.

But once they arrived in Central Africa, many of these migrants quickly left.

Kigali speaks today of a pilot project quickly abandoned, explains

.

In 2019, Rwanda agreed to take in refugees evacuated from Libya by the UNHCR, until their asylum request was examined by Western countries.

A few hundred of them are currently housed in a reception center in the east of the country.

►

More recently, Kigali has also received Afghans fleeing the Taliban, in particular the students and staff of a boarding school for young girls.

Finally, the country is in discussions with Denmark, which wishes to outsource its asylum applications there.

“ 

 ,” said Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta.

So many initiatives that allow the Rwanda of Paul Kagame, criticized for its repression of freedom of expression and the opposition, to make itself known as a “safe” country, welcoming and as an interesting partner.

In the case of the agreement with the United Kingdom, it is also an economic opportunity, since London has already promised an investment of nearly 145 million euros to support the development of the country.

London expects legal action

But the reactions of indignation are multiplying.

The UN speaks of an “

” project.

The government of Boris Johnson thinks that its partnership with Rwanda, to send asylum seekers who have arrived illegally in the United Kingdom, could begin in the coming weeks.

London expects legal action, but the opposition could even come from within the Ministry of the Interior,

,

.

To get the migration partnership between the UK and Rwanda approved, Priti Patel used a ministerial directive, a mechanism that allows her to override opposition from her chief of staff.

It is only the second recourse by the Ministry of the Interior for 30 years. 

►

Officially, it is a question of circumventing the reservations of civil servants, not politically affiliated, on the financing.

The ministry has no precise figures and some officials believe that “relocating” to Rwanda migrants who have arrived illegally in Great Britain to seek asylum there risks costing more in the long term. 

But for the unions, this above all shows the ultra-controversial nature of the project, an elected official calling it " 

".

According to another, Priti Patel went through with a bang because she knew she didn't have the support of her teams.

However, a civil servant has only the choice to apply the policies of his department or to leave his position.

The government presented the program on the eve of the Easter weekend, which lasts from Friday to Monday here, but expects legal challenges.

160 NGOs have already called on him to give up. 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Rwanda

• UK

• International Migrations

• Immigration