Migrant Deal: Rwanda Enjoys Windfall, PR

SUNDAY JULY 14 2024

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame (L) and Britain's former prime minister Rishi Sunak pose for the media, ahead of their meeting inside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain on April 9, 2024. 

By MOSES K. GAHIGI

Rwanda is going to enjoy the windfall from Britain after the ill-fated asylum deal with London fell through, as the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, killed the scheme on his first day in office.

Rwanda will not pay back the money it was advanced by Britain, with the new government only settling for saving the two instalments that were yet to be disbursed.

Following the developments, the Rwandan government says it is under no obligation to refund the £270 million ($350 million), after it upheld its end of the deal until the British government scrapped the asylum scheme, according to Doris Uwicyeza Picard, Coordinator of Migration and Economic Development Partnership Coordination Unit (MEDP - CU) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We took note of the UK’s decision to terminate the agreement, we want to reiterate that this was a partnership initiated by the UK to solve a UK problem, and Rwanda stepped up as we have always stepped up in the past to provide safety, refuge and opportunity to migrants and asylum seekers. We have upheld our end of the deal, and we believe if there is any overpayment that can be discussed, however we are under no obligation to provide any sort of refund” Ms Uwicyeza said.

In making a case for how the money has so far been used, she said government of Rwanda has “ramped up capacity and increased our capacity to accommodate thousands of migrants and asylum seekers.” Up to 1,500 houses had been constructed in Gahanga, Kicukiro district, to accommodate the asylum seekers, as the two countries worked to expedite the deportations.

“This is part of our ethos as a country and we have done so countless times when we evacuated migrants from Libya, the Sola Girls School, welcoming Sudanese medical students. This is what we do as a country,” she said.

Rwanda has already received two instalments of the asylum deal money, and more was scheduled to also be disbursed in the next two years. President Paul Kagame had earlier indicated that Rwanda would return the money if the deal falls through and UK asylum seekers are not sent to Rwanda, but this is now highly unlikely.

The new Premier Starmer came good on his campaign promise of killing the asylum deal, even before finding any alternative solution to the UK asylum seekers problem.

“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It’s never been a deterrent,” Starmer said after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general election. He described the asylum plan as a “problem that we are inheriting”.

Only four failed asylum seekers have so far been voluntarily flown to Rwanda after being offered £3,000 ($29,812). Under a break clause in the agreement, Britain can withdraw from the two further payments of £50 million ($65 million) in 2025 and 2026 without any penalty, but it is likely the UK government will have to continue to fund the four asylum seekers flown to Kigali.

“We understand that changes in governments happen, and incoming governments can have different priorities and policies. However, this was a state-to-state agreement and we believe that this good faith would remain,” Uwicyeza said.

Deputy Rwandan government spokesperson Alain Mukurarinda told local media on Tuesday that the migrant deal did not include any “clause regarding reimbursement.”

“The British government has no basis of asking for reimbursement. this was not a loan. is there any clause that Rwanda did not fulfil in the agreement so it can maybe be the basis for asking a refund? nothing like that? They approached us for a partnership and we agreed.

Both parties signed an agreement, we went through the back-and-forth, and it later even became an international agreement. We started implementing it and now they are cancelling it. We are not to blame,” Mr Mukurarinda said.

The plan was to expedite the deal, so the asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda even before the UK elections, but the scheme stalled due to legal hurdles and moral questions it faced.

Save for the intense scrutiny, the deal attracted to Rwanda’s human rights record and its past dealings with asylum seekers from other countries.

There was no loss for Rwanda, a country which seems to not miss any opportunity to enhance its status in continental and international politics, as one that shows up with solutions even relevant for bigger powers.

Analysts also say the publicity Rwanda has got as a country and destination from the global news coverage it enjoyed since the deal was announced will go a long way to give it mileage.

Building onto the attention brought by its Visit Rwanda campaigns, where it signed multimillion-dollar sleeve-shirt deals with big football clubs Arsenal, Paris Saint Germaine (PSG) and Bayern Munich.

For years Rwanda has hosted Libyan migrants who were trapped in deplorable conditions in detention centres, and are currently hosted in the Bugesera district camp, where they are processed and sent to third countries that accept them.

It also received schoolgirls from the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), after the political turmoil in Kabul made it dangerous for them, and they have continued school in Rwanda.

The country also recently welcomed Sudanese medical students to come and complete their studies from Rwanda, after fights between two generals erupted in their country, causing instabilities.

The government of Rwanda has indicated that it will continue engagements with the UK government, as it keeps options open for any likely continuation of the partnership about asylum seekers.