The Rwandan government has welcomed Monday’s ruling of the British High Court that confirmed the lawfulness of the removal of illegal migrants from the United Kingdom to Rwanda while their asylum requests are processed by authorities in London.
The President Paul Kagame government’s spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda praised the UK court decision as a “positive step” towards solving the “deadly” global migration problem.
“And it is also a satisfying decision because we can find new solutions. New ways of doing things because today we have always hidden ourselves from international conventions, international law, to keep the status quo, but today we will evolve and implement distinct solutions, such as trying to solve this deadly migration problem,” Mukuralinda said.
The official argued that Rwanda has a long history of hosting migrants, adding that some of them come to study, work, and open businesses in the country, with some living in Rwanda for more than 20 years. Mukuralinda indicated that the number of refugees in Rwanda exceeds 100,000.
“Why not use this experiment to solve this problem? So Rwanda, no matter what people think, is ready to try new ways of doing things and attract that human capital. Why not?” he asked.
On Monday, the British High Court ruled that the government’s plan to send illegal migrants from the UK to Rwanda was lawful and “consistent with the refugee convention.”
The Rwanda deal was agreed on by the UK and Rwandan governments in April of this year in order to slow down the increasing number of migrants arriving in Britain. The deal was set to come into effect starting June 14, before migrants and human rights activists legally challenged it in London courts.