Rwanda paid £120M in UK Asylum Deal; only insulted by depiction of the country

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Rwanda, June 25, 2022 – Despite international pushback, some high-profile Rwandans are eager to see refugees from the UK welcomed into their homes.

Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Rwanda Laurent Mbanda has been the most recent individual to add his voice to the fray. Speaking to BBC he said the plan was not immoral and ‘Rwanda was ready to welcome people needing a home’.

Mbanda himself was a refugee in neighboring Burundi after the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.  He is in direct opposition to the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby who said the UK’s plan was ungodly. Welby has received written support from the other English bishops, Mbanda on the other hand believes that the burden of Immigration is not one for one person but one that all countries must share.

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has also publicly endorsed the program.

“It would be a mistake for people to just make a conclusion and say ‘oh Rwanda got money’ it’s not trading.” He defended “We are not trading human beings we are actually helping. It’s a clear-cut issue.”

Kagame said the idea was innovative, noting that there were other refugees from different areas in Africa including Burundi and the Congo living in Rwanda already.

Rwanda and the UK signed a five-year deal in which persons seeking refuge in the UK would be shipped to Rwanda who would accept full responsibility for them until their immigration hearings. If denied refugee status in Rwanda they may apply for other immigration routes or face being shipped back home.

The deal is lucrative for Rwanda, the country has already received 120 million pounds from Britain for the deal which is as of now blocked by The European Court of Human Rights, an international court supported by 46 countries including the U.K.