Photo credit: LN24 International
The government of Rwanda is seeking 50 million pounds in damages from the UK following the cancellation of a migrant transfer deal between the two countries.
Juristnews reports that the controversy comes amidst growing human rights concerns and diplomatic tension over Rwanda’s military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda’s government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, alleged the British government “asked Rwanda to quietly forego the payment based on the trust and good faith existing between our two nations.” However, the British government spokesperson told the BBC that “Rwanda has waived any additional payments.”
There was a treaty between both governments that asylum seeker claims would be processed in and remain in Rwanda should their asylum claim be denied. According to the UK National Audit Office, the UK government would pay 370 million pounds as funding to support the development of Rwanda and to compensate for the cost of relocating Rwandan individuals.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer ended the scheme after the Labour government won the general election. He stated that the scheme was ineffective as a migrant policy. The UN human rights experts welcomed the scheme as “an important step to ensure the right to asylum.”
The treaty was highly condemned for violating British human rights statutes. The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) also considered the deal as a breach of the UK’s international law obligations. Concerns about the potential for refoulement were raised, where asylum seekers are subject to persecution risk in their country of transfer, as were concerns about the UK passing its responsibility for asylum processing onto a developing country which already beras a significant burden in protecting refugees.
The British government has also suspended foreign aid and limited inter-country trade in response to Rwanda’s intervention in an ongoing conflict in the Eastern DRC. Makolo described the suspension as “unjustified punitive measures.”
Makolo also complained about Lord Collins making “inflammatory comments” on February 25 when answering a question in the parliament. The Rwandan government interpreted it as insinuating a connection between the government and a terrorist attack on a church in the DRC. According to a local news outlet, Rwanda summoned the British High Commissioner in Kigali, Alison Thorpe, following the comment made by Lord Collins. Lord Collins also wrote a letter to Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Oliver Mduhungirehe, to retract his comments.
