Rwanda immigration: Preparations made for deported children

Rwanda is making preparations to welcome children from the UK as part of controversial UK immigration plans. According to a report published by The Guardian, a hostel based in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali,  is building football pitches and providing outdoor toys for any children flown to the African nation.

The hostel site has been leased by the Rwandan government and will house asylum seekers arriving from the UK. Hope hostel is building facilities that will include basketball courts, football pitches, and outdoor toys for children.

The manager of Hope hostel, Elisée Kalyango, confirmed that he was improving facilities for children who could be among those flown from the UK to the 50-room, three-star hotel in the Kagugu district of Kigali.

Tens of thousands to be sent to Rwanda

Under controversial UK immigration plans announced by Boris Johnson, Britain will send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, where they will be expected to start a new life. The UK has reportedly made a £120 million ‘down payment’ on the scheme.

Part of the money is being used to pay hotel owners for a year-long lease for their properties to be used exclusively for accommodating asylum seekers. 

After an inaugural deportation flight to Rwanda from the UK was blocked by an 11th-hour intervention by a European court, the Hope hostel currently remains empty. However, builders have continued working on pitches to be used by adults and children.

Mr Kalyango confirmed that steps were still being taken to welcome children under the controversial UK immigration policy. He said: “We are ready to handle people from any age. “A mini football and basketball court are being built, which can be shifted to volleyball, and toys can be placed on the lawn.”

Rwandan government

The Rwandan government is reportedly eager to show off the Hope hostel to the media as a ‘modern and clean accommodation’ with facilities that will also include a pool table and a prayer room.

However, Hope hostel is so far, the only facility that has been signed off for accommodating asylum seekers arriving from the UK. The Rwandan government has said that those who do arrive will receive ‘full-board accommodation, healthcare, and support for five years until they are self-sufficient’.

Head of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said that he was appalled to hear of asylum accommodation providers in Rwanda preparing for the arrival of children.

He said: “The UK government is intent on treating any person – of any age or from any conflict – as human cargo in a plan that is cruel, and will cause great human suffering. We are struck by the Home Office’s refusal to be transparent about its plans and the harm they will cause.” 

“Every day through our work we are witnessing the impact that uncertainty around the threat of removal to Rwanda is having on young people’s anxiety and mental health, with worrying reports of self-harm,” Solomon added.

Boris Johnson Rwanda visit

During a recent visit to Rwanda, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the migrant scheme. In a press conference, he said: “I’m confident that the migration aspect will work very well. I think it is notable that so far no UK court has found it to be unlawful and no international court has found it to be unlawful.”

“You’ve got to find a way of breaking the model of people smugglers. People smugglers, people traffickers, are doing a profoundly evil and dangerous thing and you have to find a way of stopping that. I’m confident that it will produce value for money,” he added.

Johnson also recently pulled back from his row with Prince Charles over the Rwanda policy. Charles was recently told to ‘stay out of politics’ after describing the scheme as ‘appalling’.

The Prime Minister said he would tell the heir to throne that there are ‘obvious merits’ to the controversial UK immigration scheme, just hours before he and Charles had tea on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit.

Just before the meeting with Charles, Johnson said:  “I wouldn’t comment on anything that I say to the Queen or the Queen says to me, nor would I say what the heir to the throne might say to me or what I may say to him.”

While in Rwanda, Johnson decided not to visit Hope hostel. When asked why he wouldn’t visit by journalists, he replied: “As you know they are not occupied by anybody yet. I am full-time flat out on the [Commonwealth] heads of government conference.”

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, when asked why the government would not rule out sending children to Rwanda, said: “I think 90% of those coming across are men … We have taken significant steps, as have those running the site, to have everything they need here so they have an opportunity to be settled and live their lives.”

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