Rwanda signed a multi-million dollar agreement with London today, under which it will accept migrants and asylum seekers from the United Kingdom, Kigali announced today on the occasion of the visit of British Interior Minister Priti Patel, AFP reported.
“Rwanda enjoys a partnership with the United Kingdom in which it will receive asylum seekers and migrants and provide them with legal ways to live,” Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said.
The announcement was made a few hours before the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures to combat illegal immigration, which he identified as his priority after Brexit, notes AFP. For months, Johnson and his government have been trying to reach agreements with third countries to send illegal migrants. Ghana and Rwanda were discussed as possible destinations, but Ghana flatly refused to sign such an agreement in January.
The agreement between the United Kingdom and Rwanda stipulates that Rwanda will receive up to 120 million British pounds (144 million euros), committing itself to integrate arriving migrants into communities on its territory.
UN: We must be as generous to African migrants as we are to Ukrainians
The head of the UN refugee agency has asked Europe to be generous and hospitable to other migrants, just as it is to Ukrainian refugees, the BBC reported.
This comes after 90 people died in the waters of the Mediterranean after leaving Libya in a crowded boat.
The medical charity Lédecins Sans Frontières said only four people had been rescued.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said Europe had received Ukrainian refugees “generously and effectively” and should consider the same for other refugees.
In recent years, thousands of African migrants have been trying to cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life in Europe.
Some manage to reach their destinations, but hundreds die each year on dangerous journeys in overcrowded, often unsuitable, vessels.
The European Union has been criticized for working closely with the Libyan coast guard to reduce the number of migrants arriving on European shores.
Many migrants face further horrific abuses at Libyan detention centers.
