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KIGALI. – Rwanda insisted yesterday that it was safe for asylum seekers after the British Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled against a plan by London to deport illegal migrants to the east African country.
The verdict said that Rwanda cannot be considered a safe third country. But Kigali says its treatment of refugees has been exemplary, even earning it praise from the United Nations.
“In any case, we’re sure and certain that the country is safe, and we’re going to examine the whole copy of the judgement in detail, and see what the judges based their conclusion on. And we’re sure we can prove the opposite,” said Alain Mukuralinda, deputy spokesman for the Rwandan government.
The ruling is a blow to the Conservative government in London, which is keen to be seen as acting tough on irregular migration.
For accepting deportees, Rwanda has already been advanced millions of dollars in fees.
“Just because there have been court rulings halting the implementation of the agreement does not mean that the money has not been used. The money will continue to be used until the first migrant is in Rwanda. Rwanda must therefore be ready to welcome them. I would say to you that today, even if tomorrow we were sent 100 or 200 or 300 migrants, we are ready to receive them,” Mukuralinda said.
Rwandan government spokeswoman Yvonne Makolo told the BBC’s Newsday programme that judges were wrong to say there weren’t enough guarantees that Rwanda wouldn’t send back refugees to their home countries – calling it “a very narrow aspect of this issue”.
She said Rwanda was a signatory to the UN refugee convention and “we do not in policy or practice send back to dangerous situations”.
Ms Makolo said country has 140,000 refugees and has been working with the UN refugee agency to evacuate endangered migrants in Libya since 2019.
“We know what it is to flee and seek safety. Many of us have lived outside the country, we’ve been forced to leave… and come back. So we empathise with those in this situation,” she told the BBC.
She said the information being given about Rwanda was “not sufficient or has been misunderstood”, adding that the country had been ranked one of the safest in the world.
“If there are issues that come up in this [asylum] programme and on the distorted views of what Rwanda is and how we govern this country, we are happy to explain – a lot of it is unjustified.” – Africanews.com and BBC.com
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