James Manning/PA
New documents have lifted the lid on how far ministers were prepared to go in order to deem Rwanda a “safe” country for refugees.
A dossier released ahead of the government’s latest bid to drive through legislation that would see asylum seekers deported to East Africa shows that concerns over refugee killings, discrimination and suppression were dismissed by the Home Office.
Officials concluded that Rwanda was a “relatively peaceful country with respect for the rule of law” but admitted there are “issues with its human rights record around political opposition to the current regime, dissent and free speech”.
A fatal shooting of 12 people protesting food cuts at a refugee camp was dismissed as an “isolated incident” by those making the assessment.
The dossier also raised concerns about the Rwandan government’s suppression of its own population, but it sought to ease fears, saying: “Most reports of any alleged human rights violations in Rwanda relate to Rwandan nationals who are critics of the government.”
Steve Smith, chief executive of Care4Calais said Rwanda’s poor human rights record, discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, and the killing of asylum seekers in 2018, were all “brushed aside”.
Speaking to The Mirror, he said: “It is a shocking example of doublethink that the Government is proceeding in the full knowledge that the Home Secretary has issued a policy statement expressing legitimate concerns over Rwanda’s human rights record – concerns which it has blithely chosen to ignore.
“This blows a hole in the Government’s feeble assertion that the Supreme Court was wrong, and that Rwanda is a safe country for refugees.”
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