The UK was concerned about the arrival of migrants from the English Channel or hiding in vehicles crossing borders. In 2021, more than 28 thousand were stopped. The conservative government of London has thus decided to turn to some African countries to see if they are willing to welcome these people on their territory. Kenya said no, and so does Ghana appear to be.
Accepting was Rwanda, which in recent years has already entered into similar agreements with other countries, including Israel and Denmark. On April 14, the British Secretary of State for Home Affairs Priti Patel and the Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta signed a partnership agreement on migration and economic development which, according to many commentators, leaves several questions about the fate of the people who will be transferred to the African country. In the past, such agreements have not prevented migrants from trying to return to the countries that had rejected them, nor have they guaranteed decent living conditions in their new homes.
“The exact number of migrants London expects to resettle is unknown, but the authorities have hinted that any male migrant apprehended trying to enter the UK illegally will be sent to Rwanda,” explains The East African. article is translated in the number 1457 of Internazionale). In return, London will pay Kigali up to £ 120 million. The website of the French broadcaster France24 interviewed François Gemenne, a migration expert, according to whom the agreement violates the Geneva convention on refugees. Gemenne states that, under the new program, London will fully entrust the procedures for obtaining political asylum to the Rwandan authorities.
Unlike Australia, which had entrusted the handling of applications to countries such as Nauru, but had then welcomed those entitled to humanitarian protection on its territory, the United Kingdom has no intention of welcoming refugees, who will have to stay in the country. African country. “It’s a completely new system,” comments Gemenne. “The deal will be difficult to put into action, and it will have a considerable cost to British citizens. Not only are there 120 million pounds to be paid in Kigali, but the cost of air flights to transfer migrants to the African country will also have to be considered. In France, a forced transfer costs on average € 14,000 per person. The pact can work as a deterrent, but it depends on how it is applied: will all vessels arriving on the British coast be checked, or just some? However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems determined to do everything, whatever the cost “. Especially since Johnson is convinced that Rwanda is a safe country.
Broken promises
Rwanda is a tiny country and is already home to 127,000 people who have had to flee their homes, most of whom live in refugee camps. Paul Kagame’s government and his supporters pride themselves on being the country of welcome. “Local authorities argue that migrants will have the right to full protection under national law, the same opportunities to access the world of work and health and welfare services that Rwandans have, as well as identity documents,” The East African, but the recent past has shown that many of these promises remain only on paper.
In the United Kingdom, the agreement between London and Kigali has aroused harsh criticism from human rights organizations and the leaders of the Anglican Church, and it is not certain that it will ever see the light. On the CNN website, the journalist Sally Hayden – who recently published the book My fourth time, we drowned in which it includes the testimonies of people forced to take refuge in Rwanda – remember that Kagame’s is a dictatorial regime, where citizens’ rights are trampled on and there is no freedom of expression. The Rwandan president, according to Hayden, uses refugee agreements to maintain good relations with rich countries willing to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses committed in Rwanda. “The refugees I met outside the camps,” writes Hayden, “were terrified of being heard by government informants, who are omnipresent. But still they tried to contact me because they had no one else to report the treatments they underwent. Rwanda pays Western public relations agencies to rehabilitate its international image, but human rights abuses are on the agenda in the country ”.