UK sends first asylum seeker to Rwanda

This voluntary departure procedure is aimed at people who have had their request to remain on British soil rejected.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a press conference in Berlin (Germany), April 24, 2024. (HALIL SAGIRKAYA / ANADOLU / AFP)

It’s the first. An asylum seeker was sent to Rwanda on Monday April 30, under a voluntary departure procedure for people who had their request to remain on British soil rejected, the daily reported The Sun and the chain Sky News. According to The Sun, “The man of African descent applied for asylum in the UK, but was rejected late last year”. He then subscribed to the possibility of going to Rwanda, to Kigali precisely.

This agreement concerns migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected and who can no longer legally remain in the UK, but who also cannot return to their country of origin. Those concerned then receive several thousand pounds sterling for agreeing to go to Rwanda, where they will receive support from the Rwandan authorities for a period of up to five years, particularly for housing.

A device parallel to that of the controversial law adopted at the end of April

This voluntary departure program is a parallel system to that which must allow the expulsion of exiles to Rwanda. A week ago, the British government adopted a controversial law allowing migrants who arrived in the country illegally to be expelled to Rwanda. She vis to expel migrants who arrived illegally, wherever they come from, to Rwanda, which will examine their asylum request. Whatever the outcome, they will not be able to return to the UK. The head of the British government said he hoped to implement this measure by July.

Since his arrival at Downing Street a year and a half ago, Rishi Sunak has made the fight against irregular immigration one of his priorities, insisting that he wants “stop the boats” who arrive illegally on British shores. But if the British government insists that Rwanda is a country “on”several human rights groups regularly accuse President Paul Kagame of governing in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and freedom of expression.


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