Not all Rwandans in Diaspora are asylum seekers

Editor, RE: “Why Rwanda gets punished for doing right” (The New Times, August 18). The writer makes sense in his assessment. But he missed a point by considering all Rwandan migrants as criminals, traitors, asylum seekers who seek to raise their social status through blackmailing our country. The majority of migrants in various countries are poor, while others struggle to meet their basic needs. An online reader of The New Times recently gave us his experience in Scandinavia—the kind of experience that warrants a need for our embassies to reach out to desperate Rwandans and bring them on board. This is generally because a small segment of disorganised individuals—the so called opposition—tries to expand their membership by recruiting vulnerable migrants, especially in the west where life without legal status is unbearable. I suggest that anyone who needs a passport or Rwandan ID card, for enhancing their chances of gaining legal status, should be helped without conditions. Some countries do well in this area—even though corruption is often a motivating factor. But we should move away from considering Rwandan Diaspora as a group of investors, people with high level of education and have much to offer to our country. On the other hand, we should revisit the template of our struggle in 1990s where many Rwandans played an important role regardless of their origin and social status. After all, we are nearly 12 million—migration should be seen as a celebratory aspect rather than a cause for suspicion. Otherwise, it is clear that Rwandas lovers outnumber Rwandas haters. Butare

Opinions

Not all Rwandans in Diaspora are asylum seekers