Rwanda has signed a deal with the United Kingdom, accepting asylum seekers from the UK. People seeking asylum in the UK could now be relocated to Rwanda under a controversial new scheme blasted by international human rights groups as “shockingly ill-conceived” and contrary to international obligations.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the scheme an “innovative approach, driven by our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms,” on Thursday, saying that with the UK’s help, Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle “tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.”
Speaking at a joint news conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said that people relocated to Rwanda “will be given the support including up to five years of training, integration, accommodation, health care, so that they can resettle and thrive.”
Patel also called the plan a “joint new migration and economic development partnership,” saying that the UK is “making substantial investment in the economic development of Rwanda.”
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Patel insisted the aim of the agreement was to improve the UK asylum system, which she said has faced “a combination of real humanitarian crises and evil people smugglers profiteering by exploiting the system for their own gains.”
When asked what the criteria would be for relocation, Patel said “we are very clear that everyone who enters the UK illegally will be considered for resettlement and being brought over to Rwanda, I’m not going to divulge specific criteria for a number of reasons.”
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