Priti Patel has been accused of engaging in “immoral human trafficking” after it turned out that the United Kingdom would accept a number of refugees from Rwanda in exchange for deporting thousands of asylum seekers.
Some 50 of Africa’s “most vulnerable refugees” are due to be resettled in Britain as part of a multi-million pound agreement reached between the two countries last week that thousands of British asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda to have their claims heard there. .
It also turned out that modern victims of slavery will be among those expelled from Britain under the deal, despite the fact that the UK government has condemned Rwanda for failing to protect and support trafficking survivors less than a year ago.
The document outlining the terms of the migration deal states that arrangements will be made for Britain to “relocate some of the most vulnerable refugees to Rwanda, recognizing the commitment of both participants to providing better international refugee protection”.
A source from the Ministry of the Interior told The Independent that this will be “about 50” refugees who will be brought to Britain from the country. Rwanda is already home to more than 127,000 refugees, mostly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most of whom are in refugee camps.
Louise Calvi, head of services and security at Refugee Action, said: “Every last detail of this nasty deal made by the interior minister reveals that it is nothing more than dirty and immoral human trafficking.
“The plan to take in 50 vulnerable refugees from Rwanda suggests that the government does not have full confidence in the system there to protect people fleeing war and persecution.
“The resettlement of refugees must happen with UNHCR and as part of a more ambitious and long-term program to welcome and support 10,000 people each year to rebuild their lives in the UK.
UNHCR, which facilitates resettlement worldwide, including from Rwanda, estimates that there are about 6,000 refugees in the East African country in need of resettlement.
But a spokesman for the organization said he was unaware of plans to resettle Rwandan refugees in the UK, as it was “not a party” to the terms of the deal.
Announcing the deal last week, Boris Johnson said the approach would “provide safe and legal asylum routes”. However, apart from plans to receive 50 refugees from Rwanda, there is still no evidence that the government will increase safe and legal routes to the United Kingdom.
The number of people brought to the UK under resettlement schemes – one of the main safe and legal routes for refugees in the UK – fell by 79 per cent between 2019 and 2021, from 5,606 to 1,171.
The Border Nationality Bill, currently passing through parliament, seeks to deny asylum seekers arriving in the UK on unauthorized routes – such as by small boat in the English Channel – the right to bring family members to join. to them in the UK.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “With so few safe and legal routes available, people fleeing war and persecution have no choice but to risk their lives in small boats at the hands of desperate smugglers. find safety.
“Instead of widening safe routes, this government’s border bill destroys the main legal path open to refugees by severely restricting the reunification of refugee families, a means by which thousands of mostly women and children facing violence and persecution have been able to safely have been established in the UK in recent years. “
The Memorandum of Understanding on the Migration Deal also makes it clear that victims of modern slavery will be among those sent to Rwanda, stating that the country will be provided with information on displaced persons “related to any special needs that may arise in as a result, they are victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. ”
This is despite the fact that only last July, the UK’s international ambassador for human rights, Rita French, condemned Rwanda for failing to “verify, identify and provide support to victims of trafficking” in the country.
Kolbassia Haoussou MBE, of the charity Freedom from Torture, said: a year earlier, the government had condemned it for non-support.
“As the outstanding compassion shown recently by people across the country for those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan shows, the government is dangerously deviating from public opinion on this issue.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Government of Rwanda have been contacted for comment.
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