The Mediterranean Sea has swallowed thousands of desperate African migrants trying to cross to Western Europe. Despite the well-publicised mass drownings on the shores of the Libyan coast where people-smuggling is a lucrative business. Worse has befallen those who failed to board the creaky boats and rubber dinghies as they became candidates for slave markets. Many are of the view that the mass migration has been made possible by the destruction of Libya at the hands of the West, so by being a conduit for the migrants, the former is simply paying back. Rwanda refused to sit back and ignore the sufferings in the Libyan desert and offered to take in at least 500 of the migrants on a humanitarian basis. It might not be the Utopian Eldorado that the migrants think Europe to be, but it is better than ending at the bottom of the sea. There is even more, Rwanda will treat them as equals, they will have access to building a brighter future and make something out of themselves. This country has a history of being on both sides of asylum-seeking and understands what’s at stake. Only this week it announced that many refugees living in urban centres will now have access to social services just as nationals such as medical cover. They already have electronic IDs, travel documents and a safe environment and they can rest assured that this country takes their plight at heart and will do all to improve their living conditions. So, coming to Rwanda is a far better gamble than slaving away under the Libyan sun or streets of Europe, they will even get to learn about Agaciro (dignity) which is missing in the current Libyan setting.
