Rwanda has acknowledged that it is unable to assure the exact number of United Kingdom (UK) asylum seekers it will take as part of Rishi Sunak’s deportation initiative.
The East African country did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 UK asylum seekers, who are eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead saying it would be “thousands”.
Yolande Makolo, a government spokesperson, also described suggestions Rwanda would initially welcome only 200 migrants as a “misconception”, on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
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Makolo said: “We will be able to welcome the migrants that the UK sends over the lifetime of this partnership. What I cannot tell you is how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year. This will depend on very many factors that are being worked out right now.
“Journalists have been visiting the initial accommodation that we have secured since the beginning of the partnership. This is Hope Hostel. That particular facility can take up to 200 people.
“However, we have already started initial discussions with other facilities around Kigali and further afield and these will be firmed up and signed once we know how many migrants are coming and when they are coming,” she added. “So it has never been the case that we can only take 200 initially, that has been a misconception.”
The Rwanda Scheme
The Rwanda program entails the transfer of certain asylum seekers who enter the UK through irregular means, such as small boat crossings across the Channel, to the East African nation.
Individuals relocated to Rwanda will undergo the processing of their asylum claims there. If their claims are approved, they will be granted refugee status within the country. In the event of an unsuccessful claim, they may choose to seek asylum in another designated “safe third country” or explore the option of settling in Rwanda based on alternative grounds.
The controversial five-year deal was initially introduced under the former home secretary, Priti Patel, in 2022 to tackle the growing numbers of people crossing the Channel in small boats. However, it has faced several legal challenges, which have prevented flights from taking off to Kigali.
It is estimated the Rwanda scheme has cost at least £300m already.
Makolo told critics of the scheme not to attack Rwanda “unjustly” adding: “Living in Rwanda is not a punishment. It is a beautiful country, including the weather.”
Makolo told critics of the scheme not to attack Rwanda “unjustly” adding: “Living in Rwanda is not a punishment. It is a beautiful country, including the weather.”
Keir Starmer said Labour would not keep the Rwanda scheme if it wins the next election. Instead, its national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, said the party would spend the money set aside for the Rwanda scheme on a “proper operation to crack down on the criminal gangs”.
Responding to Makolo’s comments, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “This interview shows that more people have arrived in the last week than are likely to be sent to Rwanda over the next few years, and the Conservatives are just trying to con people with their failing plans.
“Today, we heard a stark admission that Rwanda can only take a tiny proportion of people who are arriving in the UK, yet the government is spending half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money on this scheme.”
Also, Makolo denied Rwandan involvement in the bombing of a displacement camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At least nine people, including seven children, were killed in the strike on the Mugunga camp in the eastern city of Goma on Friday.
The US has blamed the Rwandan army and M23 rebel group.
Ms Makolo said the US government had been “very hasty to blame us without looking, without investigating this incident and without talking to the people who are affected.
“It’s something that we outright reject and it’s unfair,” she added.
