The United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman arrived in Rwanda early Saturday for a two-day visit where she is expected to discuss with officials in Kigali on migration deal to deport asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the English Channel.
On her arrival in Kigali, Braverman visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and the recently established Bwiza Riverside estates located in the outskirts of Kigali city where migrants from UK will be accommodated.
The Migration and Economic Development Partnership under implementation concerns all the migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally from January 1, 2022.
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.”
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.
CU/abj/APA