Rwanda-UK Migrant Partnership: Dying at sea is not an option for the most vulnerable

Over the last week or so, news on the issue of death on the ‘high seas’ has saturated prime time. Unfortunately, however, one news story overshadowed all others; the Sunday disappearances of the submarine the ‘Titan’ and the five men who were aboard it. For three days, it seemed the entire world waited, with bated breath, to learn the fate of the five, with news correspondents counting down the hours until oxygen ran out on the makeshift submarine. It was around Wednesday when the news broke that everyone died, not because of oxygen deprivation but rather due to a catastrophic implosion that tore the vessel apart, leaving nothing but a few scraps on the ocean floor. While we stayed glued to our televisions and smartphones, waiting for news on the Titan, in the very same Atlantic Ocean, on Wednesday a ship filled with migrants sunk off the West African coast near the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands. The death toll was in the dozens. That deadly incident occurred just two days after another ship, this time off the coast of Greece, capsized with around 750 on board. As of last Friday, the media was talking about 82 people confirmed dead with hundreds missing. And while these death tolls were extremely shocking and sad, what outraged me the most was a video on Twitter that showed a Greek coast guard vessel, seemingly attempting to intentionally capsize a small raft filled with people. While the two incidents could have been blamed on the act of God, the third was evidence of a cruelty and a lack of humanity that couldn’t be rationalized in any way. Whenever we watch terrible things wrought by agents of the state, we often blame the ‘few rotten apples’ in the system. That’s why we are able to watch, as Africans, George Floyd getting choked to death, and still want US visas. It’s because we are able to separate Derrick Chauvin (the police officer who killed Mr. Floyd) and the US government (represented by law enforcement). There is a certain cognitive dissonance that allows us to still want to study at Harvard and visit New York, while knowing that the Derrick Chauvins of the world exist there. However, unlike the ‘bad apples’ narrative that the US can fall back on, what I saw the Greek Coast Guard attempting to do, in a methodological manner, was, and is, murder. The Greek state agency, in charge of rescuing people on the high seas, was actively trying to murder them. Why? Because they didn’t have visas, as simple as that. The lack of a stamp in their passports was a death sentence. On Thursday at 10am (GMT to be exact), the UK High Court will decide on whether it is legal for the UK Government to transfer to Rwanda migrants who attempt to enter Britain illegally. The planned transfers are part of the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEPD), a bilateral agreement that was signed by both countries as a way to not only discourage people smuggling in the Global North but also support development in the Global South. This partnership has been called every bad word under the sun. It’s been deemed in the majority of mainstream western media as evil, state sponsored people smuggling. Migrants for cash if you may. But away from the sloganeering, I’d like to ask, are European and North American countries going to open their borders (never mind their hearts and minds) to the people fleeing the effects of climate disasters, conflicts, hunger, civil conflict, pestilence and the lack of economic opportunities back home? No. What we are seeing, and have been seeing over the last few years, is the North closing its doors. Shall we see those doors open again? Probably not. So, what to do? If the North is not, despite its historical responsibility, opening its doors to the most vulnerable, then the South must do its part. The fact of the matter is, even with the greatest will, unless there is some kind of funding, the South will not be able to fully play its part in stemming the flow. The North has the responsibility to help fund these initiatives. Happily, Rwanda is playing its part, and so is the UK. While watching our people die in overcrowded boats is tragic enough, watching them getting potentially drowned by Europeans is too much to bear. The people who were lost at sea last week, as well as those continuing to die, don’t need to do so. The entire world has a responsibility to do something; I’m just happy that Rwanda is playing its part. No matter how small. The writer is a socio-political commentator.

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Rwanda-UK Migrant Partnership: Dying at sea is not an option for the most vulnerable