UK Home Secretary arrived in Kigali over migration deal
The United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Saturday, March 18, arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, for a two-day visit.
She is expected to underline Britain’s commitment to the Rwanda-UK migration deal, inked in April 2022, just a few months after it was ruled lawful by her country’s high court.
Last week, President Paul Kagame held talks with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a fresh move both leaders described as a way “to ensure this important partnership is delivered successfully.”
Under the arrangement, the UK said it sought joint efforts to break the business model of criminal people smugglers and address humanitarian issues.
Local media reports indicate that Braverman confirmed that the UK had “initiated discussions” with the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, following its intervention in 2022 to block plans to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
While in Rwanda, Braverman is also expected to tour the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the recently unveiled Bwiza Riverside estates.
She is also expected to tour Norrsken Africa, a regional tech hub based in Kigali, among other engagements.
More about the Rwanda-UK migration deal
In a verdict delivered in December, Lord Justice Lewis said the policy, introduced under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was “consistent with the refugee convention”.
However, he said at the time, the home secretary should look at people’s “particular circumstances” before sending them to Rwanda.
He urged that the first eight people who were due to be sent to Rwanda had not had their circumstances “properly considered” by the former UK home secretary Priti Patel, and as a result, their cases will be referred back to the current home secretary, Braverman, “for her to consider afresh.”
Rwanda and the UK inked the “Migration and Economic Development Partnership” in April, 2022, to allow migrants and asylum seekers who are illegally in the UK to be transferred to Rwanda.
A first of its kind in the world, the deal seeks to promote “the dignity and empowerment of migrants,” according to the officials from both countries.
The Migration and Economic Development Partnership concerns all the migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally from January 1, 2022.
Those who will benefit from the programme will have the option of applying for asylum locally and be facilitated to resettle in Rwanda or to be facilitated to return to their home country, having received support through the programme.
The UK will fund the programme, initially releasing an upfront investment of £120 million, which will fund invaluable opportunities for the migrants and Rwandans as well.
This includes “secondary qualifications, vocational and skills training, language lessons, and higher education.” The UK will also support in terms of accommodation prior to local integration and resettlement.
According to the deal, they will be entitled to full protection under Rwandan law, equal access to employment, and enrollment in healthcare and social care services.
Meanwhile, according to a statement from the British government, Kagame and Sunak also discussed the “concerning escalation” of violence in the DR Congo as well as international efforts to support a lasting peaceful resolution.
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