Rwanda is less than a tenth the size of the UK but is home to about 14-million people – that’s almost one-fifth of the UK’s population. However, the British government still wants to push ahead with a controversial scheme to deport asylum seekers to the East African country.
Despite a fierce backlash from rights groups, international agencies, Rwandan opposition politicians and even the UK Supreme Court – which has ruled the plan unlawful – the two governments are hellbent on implementing it. In Kigali, a hostel that has been housing survivors of the 1994 genocide for nearly three decades has had them evicted to make room for asylum seekers who arrive on England’s coast.
According to the UK’s National Audit Office, it will end up costing about 600-million pounds (760-million dollars) to deport the first 300 refugees. There is no cap on the number of migrants, and thousands could potentially pour into Kigali within the first five years of the plan. The only opposition party that ran against Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the last election, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, is accusing the UK of violating its international obligations by shipping its unwanted migrants 4,000 miles away to Rwanda.
Check out our exclusive report from the ground in Rwanda, where we explore the devastating consequences that this policy is having in Rwanda itself. And please share your views and insights into this issue.