Britain has detained an unspecified number of migrants for deportation to Rwanda under its new immigration policy, government officials said Wednesday.
Rwanda ’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Vincent Biruta and the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Priti Patel address the media after signing the five-year deal on relocation of migrants and asylum seekers in Kigali on April 14, 2022.
The law dodged a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited sending migrants to Rwanda because it"would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment." With a population of 13 million, Rwanda, which has received praise for its modern infrastructure, claims to be one of the most stable nations in Africa. But human rights groups routinely criticize the government for restricting free speech.
The government expects to deport 5,700 migrants to Rwanda this year, a senior minister said Tuesday. Of those, 2,143"can be located for detention," the ministry said, leaving more than 3,500 migrants unaccounted for. Ministers said the enforcement teams would find them. Labor opposition members have dismissed the new policy as a"gimmick" that will not deter cross-channel arrivals, and some public resistance to deportations remains. The FDA, a civil service trade union, recently said it had lodged an appeal against the new law, arguing that it forces its members to violate their governing code.
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