Following the ruling by the UK court regarding the relocation of migrants from the United Kingdom to Rwanda last week, media is now awash with reports of human traffickers using the same court determination to make a business case. They are busy luring their victims to pay for them to be put on their dinghies as they embark desperate journeys across the sea to get into western Europe. ALSO READ Rwanda takes issue with UK court ruling on safety of asylum seekers The ruling overturned an earlier decision by the High Court, which had allowed for the relocation to Rwanda of illegal immigrants currently stuck in the UK, where they are not wanted. Courtesy of an agreement signed between Rwanda and the UK governments, these immigrants were to be resettled in Rwanda where they would find opportunity and start a new life, as one of the alternatives. ALSO READ: Twelve things about historic Rwanda-UK migration deal The ruling now puts the relocation in balance, and the unscrupulous smugglers are back in business, meaning more deaths at sea, and despair for those who make it across. Rwanda has been misunderstood on this matter, despite the clear explanations given, that her offer to take in these people was purely premised on humanitarianism shaped by experiences lived by many Rwandans, including President Paul Kagame for decades. Before the offer to take in unwanted asylum seekers from the UK, Rwanda had established a well-documented record of taking in global citizens who are suffering and feel unwanted. When a story broke in 2017 showing thousands of Africans who were being sold into slavery in Libya after failed bid to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, Rwanda was the first country to offer to take them in as they look for third party countries to take them in. As of today, thousands of them have been received in Rwanda, and majority of them have been duly facilitated to relocate to other countries. More are still coming including the most recent group that was received last month. The same happened for Afghanis who, after the Taliban overran their country in 2021, Rwanda, with her meagre resources took the initiative to take them in and currently, SOLA, the School of Leadership, Afghanistan an only women school was evacuated to Rwanda, where students today continue with their studies. So in offering to receive the asylum seekers, Rwanda was simply making her contribution to fix the global migration system which, for all intents and purposes, is broken. As it is therefore, the ruling, which is open to misinterpretation, is being used to tarnish Rwanda’s image, where it is being branded as an unsafe place for refugees, creating a state of unwanted uncertainty among the vulnerable seeking refuge in Rwanda.
