The interior ministry has acknowledged that LGB refugees deported to Rwanda may be persecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation – but plans to send them there anyway.
The department’s Equality Policy Impact Assessment, published Monday night, said there were “concerns” about the treatment of some LGBTQ + people in the East African country and that investigations showed that the group had been “ill-treated” more than once. ”.
A separate Interior Ministry document, also released Monday, acknowledges that there is a “lack of crime reporting” against LGBTQ + people in Rwanda “due to stigma and fear of harassment”, leading to limited information on how the police react. and protection ”this cohort.
The report, which outlines the country’s official guidelines for Rwanda, continues: “LGBTQ + individuals also report some social discrimination and abuse, including discrimination in employment, expulsion, family ostracism and threats of violence.
However, the department still plans to include gays, lesbians and bisexual refugees among those sent to Rwanda, saying “surveillance measures will be put in place” and that the government “will take into account additional evidence during the partnership”.
In the country guidance document, he cites the fact that Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with gay American TV presenter Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Porsche de Rossi in Kigali in 2018 as proof that the country supports the human rights of all people, regardless from sexual orientation.
Lewis Mudge, director of Central Africa at Human Rights Watch, said the documents were “unrealistic” and showed “serious wishes” from the Home Office, adding: “They seem to change the facts to justify a pre-determined conclusion.
“The Rwandan government has a terrible experience when it comes to guaranteeing the internationally recognized rights, statues and protocols of refugees. It is difficult to imagine a less real assessment of Rwanda’s shocking human rights record. “
The Equality Impact Assessment also recognizes that the policy “will have a greater impact on people of the Muslim faith”, given that the majority of Rwanda’s population is Christian.
But he continued to defend his plans to send Muslim refugees there, arguing that “any disadvantage is justified on the grounds that it is a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of the policy to deter people from such dangerous journeys.”
The document added that Rwanda’s constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion and guarantees freedom of worship, and that “there are mosques in Rwanda located mainly in the capital, Kigali.”
The Interior Ministry’s impact assessment of equality policy says it does not consider moving to Rwanda a “punishment” – but continues that one of the “key goals” of the policy would be to deter people from taking dangerous small trips. with a boat”.
Sonia Lenegan, director of legal affairs and policy at Rainbow Migration, said the claim that moving to Rwanda was not a punishment was “clearly false”, adding: “Otherwise, how could it act as a barrier to the passage of small boats, as has this government made it clear that it intends on politics? “
Priti Patel says the UK-Rwanda migration agreement will mean that asylum seekers can “rebuild their lives” in the East African country
(AFP via Getty Images)
She also accused the government of “rejecting” pages with examples of arrests, harassment and detention of LGBTQ + people in the leadership, adding that the evidence showed more clearly than ever that it was not safe to send LGBTQ + people to Rwanda. “.
This comes after the Home Office announced on Monday that the first group of asylum seekers would be informed this week of its intention to relocate them to Rwanda under a £ 120m agreement with the East African nation.
People crossing the English Channel are among those who will be notified, the department said, adding that it will have the power to detain people pending their removal from the UK.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the migration partnership with Rwanda would mean that those making dangerous trips to the UK could be relocated there to have their asylum applications processed and “rebuild their lives” there.
“This is only the first stage of the process and we know it will take time, as some will try to thwart the process and delay the removal. “I will not refrain from acting to implement the changes that the British voted for in order to regain control of our money, laws and borders,” she added.
Hours after the deal was announced last month – with Boris Johnson declaring Rwanda “one of the safest countries in the world” – it turned out that Britain had condemned the country for failing to investigate human rights abuses for months. earlier.
The United Kingdom itself has provided protection to dozens of Rwandans over the past decade, with 69 receiving asylum or humanitarian protection between 2011 and 2021.
A similar migration deal between Rwanda and Israel between 2014 and 2017 is said to have led almost all those sent to the African nation to leave the country almost immediately.
Many have tried to return to Europe via human smuggling routes, such as Libya, where trafficking and human rights abuses are widespread.
The new policy was widely condemned by high-ranking figures, including UNHCR, who said it was “unacceptable” and a violation of international law, and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who described the plan as “ungodly”.
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