Amnesty International Slams Rwanda’s Move To Accept Deportees From America

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame

Source: Africa Publicity

Human rights group, Amnesty International, has strongly criticized the Rwandan Government’s decision to accept deportees from the United States of America (USA).

According to Amnesty International, the deal between Rwanda and the American Government contravenes the Refugee Convention, faulting the asylum process and claiming it is a risk of violating international law on migration and that there is still no certainty in its success.

In a statement, Christian Rumu, who is the Senior Campaigner at Amnesty International, said: “What we have raised as a concern with the UK deal, for instance, over the past years was the fact that there was a risk of refoulement of people who were deported from the UK to Rwanda.”

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Rumu added “That is in contravention of the refugee convention and that risk is still there right now. We also had an issue around the asylum processes in Rwanda, in particular with regard to appeal opportunities. They tried to fix that with the reform that happened last year but that hasn’t been tested yet. So in all, there is a real risk of violation of international law that Rwanda is putting migrants through with this deal.”

Despite the criticisms, Rwanda says it has space to help alleviate what many countries in Europe – and the United States Human rights advocates have long raised concerns over the deaths in Rwandan custody of some perceived government critics, as well as the alleged killings of others who sought exile in places like South Africa.