The tempo is high both in Kigali and London awaiting an important decision on whether Rwanda is safe or not safe to fly in immigrants where the UK wants to send them to process for their asylum.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will have lawmakers sit today, Monday, to consider legislation on his flagship migration policy.
Mr. Sunak hopes passing a law declaring Rwanda a “safe” country will finally see him able to deport asylum seekers to the East African nation, a key test of his premiership after he pledged to stop boats carrying migrants from crossing the English channel.
It has been a long battle likened to a ping-pong contest between the UK’s House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Last week, on Tuesday, the House of Lords (upper house of parliament) again defeated Sunak’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda but proposed changes that would delay but not block a policy.
The House of Lords, for a third time sought to make changes to the new legislation after the House of Commons lower house of parliament rejected its second set of proposals on Monday last week.
Sunak on Friday vowed to keep Parliament sitting on Monday night until it passes legislation declaring Rwanda a “safe” destination to send asylum seekers, allowing deportation flights that were first mooted two years ago to get off the ground at last.
Sunak has repeatedly vowed to begin flights to Kigali by the “spring” — effectively the three months to June 20.
Andrew Mitchell, UK development minister who was recently in Rwanda during the 30th commemoration of genocide against Tutsi, said he had no doubt Rwanda was properly prepared to receive asylum seekers “once the flights start to flow”.
According to statistics from the Rwanda government, there are about 130,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the country mostly from the DRC and Burundi.
Rwanda has also processed roughly 2,000 migrants detained in Libya and hosted an Afghan girls’ school following the Taliban’s takeover, as well as Sudanese medical students unable to complete their studies at home after the civil war started last year.
Rwanda’s government says it is training new immigration officials to deal with the long-awaited influx of people and is ready to increase the effort when the “numbers and timetable” justified it.
