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“We believe that African migrants, but also those from elsewhere, must be able to live in Africa with security and dignity,” said Vincent Biruta, Rwanda’s foreign minister, shortly after signing an unprecedented partnership and highly controversial on the issue Migration and Economic Development with the UK, Thursday 14 April in Kigali. The text provides for migrants and asylum seekers who enter Britain illegally to be sent to Rwanda.
From Kigali’s perspective, the reception and integration of London’s rejected migrants is a political blow and an economic opportunity. The UK has pledged to invest an initial £120m (€145m) to help set up the project, but also to support the country’s development, which includes 40% of the population still living below the poverty line and regularly lives criticized for suppressing freedom of expression.
Once in Rwanda, migrants have the option to be legalized or return to their country of origin if they so choose. Those who choose to stay have access to mutual health insurance, Rwandan social assistance and are able to seek work. While Rwanda is already hosting more than 130,000 refugees, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, Kigali says it is ready to take in several thousand, even tens of thousands, of migrants who have been sent back from the UK.
Against the background that economic growth has been severely affected by the coronavirus crisis and inflation has recently been exacerbated by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the announcement has been criticized by the few opponents of President Paul Kagame’s regime who are still based in Rwanda.
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Our country is very densely populated and our land is already insufficient. Taking in migrants will increase competition for our natural resources, Frank Habineza, elected representative of Rwanda’s Green Democratic Party, said on Twitter, adding that rich countries like the UK should not shift their responsibilities to third-country reception , just because their influence and their financial resources allow them to do so. For her part, Victoire Ingabire, president of the Dalpha-Umurinzi party, which is not recognized by the authorities, demands that the Rwandan government works to solve its own political and social problems, which are forcing some of its citizens to seek refuge in other countries beforehand to look for migrants.
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