Asylum seekers who have been detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy are being handed a colourful promotional document entitled: “I’m being relocated to Rwanda. What does it mean to me?”
The news came as the government faced a second legal challenge over the prime minister’s £500m policy and it emerged that dozens of asylum seekers were being forcibly taken to detention centres.
The 17-page Home Office booklet promises detainees they will be flown to “the land of a thousand hills” that has “a wide array of wildlife”.
Alongside a display of photos of lush valleys, Kigali’s financial district, and Hope hostel, the accommodation reserved for asylum seekers from the UK, the text of the booklet asks the question: “Is Rwanda safe?”
It answers: “Rwanda is a generally safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers.” There is no mention of an incident in February 2018 when Congolese refugees were killed in clashes with Rwandan security forces.
The document goes on to say: “If you feel that Rwanda is not safe for you personally, you must notify us immediately in writing or in person and explain why.” Further on, it lists emergency numbers for the police, the fire brigade and for traffic incidents.
There is no mention of the UK supreme court ruling in November that found there were substantial grounds for believing asylum seekers sent to Rwanda faced a real risk of having their claims wrongly assessed or being returned to their country of origin to face persecution.
The Guardian
