Kigali, Rwanda- The Rwandan government has revealed that refugees from the United Kingdom (UK) will make their way into the country as early as the end of this month.
Last month, the Rwandan and UK government reached an agreement that will see refugees seeking asylum in the UK being deported on arrival to Rwanda with the agreement set to run for five years for US$158 million with the bill set to be suited by the UK government.
“According to the information we have, the first batch of migrants will arrive by the end of the month, but it is the British government that knows how many will come and when they will come. Once they have got their (asylum seeker) status, they will go and live with other Rwandans. They will be free. They will not be prisoners,” said Rwanda’s deputy government spokesperson, Alain Mukurarinda.
However, there have been concerns raised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Granda, who said on Twitter, shifting asylum responsibilities is not the solution and that the United Nations Human Rights Council will continue proposing concrete solutions that respect international law.
At the same time, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, Lewis Mudge, said the move by the UK government was cruel.
“The UK’s decision to go ahead with expulsions of asylum seekers to Rwanda is an affront to its international obligations and quite simply cruel,” said Mudge.
Nevertheless, the UK government has started to notify those that are likely to be relocated with two groups of refugees having already been notified that their flights have been booked.
Last year, more than 28 000 migrants and refugees made the crossing from mainland Europe to the UK across the English Channel on rickety boats.
