the expulsion of migrants to Rwanda still on the agenda

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Any single man who arrived illegally on British soil is liable to be sent back to Rwanda one way, regardless of his background and nationality. It is therefore 6,000 kilometers further south, in Africa, that he will have to rebuild his life, if his asylum application is accepted.

In exchange for this service, London signed a large check for 140 million euros in Kigali. A substantial sum for a country where, according to the World Bank, the share of the population living below the poverty line is just under 40%. This, in broad outline, is the content of this measure announced last April by the government.

This measure is still not applied: so far no one has been expelled. Associations for the defense of refugees who denounce the confusion made between economic migration and refugees have multiplied their appeals. In June, a first London-Kigali flight was canceled, a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, and the migrants got off the plane at the last moment.

From Monday, September 5, it is the British High Court of Justice which examines the legality of this project which only seems to please the conservatives… For the rest, there is general indignation. According to Timeseven Prince Charles in private said to himself “appalled” by “the government’s approach”.

In recent days, the press has relayed testimonies of terrified migrants. Tea Guardian reports that one of those who nearly left in June self-harmed, another threatened to take his own life. The log returns ver un report by the medical association Medical Justice which confirms that the threat of deportation to Rwanda increases the risk of suicide for asylum seekers.

Rwanda, a country itself marked by civil war and exile, has positioned itself for several years on the niche of subcontracting refugees for Western countries – what NGOs call “the outsourcing of asylum”, a strong trend especially since 2015, the year of the migrant crisis in Europe. Kigali promises to integrate them into its education system, to offer them work. Its growing economy allows it.

Rwanda is also in discussion with Denmark to set up the same procedure. A way for President Kagame to gain international notoriety and legitimacy.

Except that doubts persist about the fate reserved for the refugees. In 2013, a similar agreement with Israel was quickly abandoned when it became known that refugees had been detained, others beaten in prison, and, according to NGOs, some had even ended up paying traffickers to leave Rwanda.

Several countries have recently expressed their concerns about the human rights situation in Rwanda. In August, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notably called on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to stop supporting armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The British Foreign Office’s 2022 report – which gives the UK’s view on human rights in other countries – rightly accuses Kigali of recruiting refugees for its armed operations in neighboring countries. Report still not made public. Its release has been curiously delayed by the head of diplomacy, Liz Truss, who is not so keen on seeing criticism of Rwanda’s human rights record come out now (the publication of this report does not has never been so delayed since it was launched by Robin Cook, then Foreign Secretary, 21 years ago).

The one who should now become Prime Minister promises, whatever the cost, to bring the agreement to an end. Liz Truss relies on her deterrent effect to candidates for the crossing from the French coast. So far, this has no effect.


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