‘Rwanda is not a free country, and certainly not for refugees’

British plans to send migrants seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda are controversial. Judges and critics in the UK mainly emphasize the poor quality of the asylum procedure in Rwanda and the risk of authorities sending migrants back to their country of origin, where it could be unsafe for them. In British court cases, little attention is paid to the lack of freedom and general repression in the country.

Opposition politician Victoire Ingabire (1968) also sees this, who was imprisoned for eight years for statements that went against the government. She believes that the UK, as a champion of human rights, should demand that the country release political prisoners when working with Rwanda.

Ingabire, of Hutu descent, is the former chairman of the United Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition parties. Although she has been released, she is not allowed to leave the country. Her family is still in the Netherlands, where she lived as a political refugee between 1994 and 2010.

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In 1994, armed Hutu militias massacred Rwandans from the Tutsi minority group, as well as moderate Hutus, en masse over a period of 100 days. Since the genocide, which claimed one million lives, Rwanda has developed rapidly economically under the leadership of Tutsi President Paul Kagame, with the modern capital Kigali as a showcase. But at the same time, more than half of Rwandans still live below the poverty line and almost a quarter of young people are unemployed. “The government is destroying poor neighborhoods in Kigali because it wants a clean, new city,” said Ingabire, dressed in a light pink blazer, via video link from Kigali. “The residents do not receive any compensation for this, although this is required by law. People are outraged that they are being evicted from their homes while houses for migrants are being built. They think: ‘We need to be helped by our government before it decides to help people from outside’.”

The British government has so far paid almost 280 million euros to Rwanda. But, Ingabire emphasizes, the financing is only for five years. “What will happen to them after that time? Rwanda is a poor country, there are few employment opportunities.”

At the same time, you are critical of the deal because of the oppression in your country. What is it like to live under a repressive regime?

“That is difficult to describe. I have friends and colleagues who have disappeared or been murdered or are in prison. My assistant stayed at my house for a while and left one day in 2019. The next day his dead body was found on the street. Eight members of my political party are currently in prison because they read a book that… The blueprint for repression and attended online sessions about it.”

“The coordinator of my party was murdered at work. I think it was at four in the afternoon. People came into his office and stabbed him to death. The government says that to this day they do not know what happened. They’re just trying to scare people into working with me.”

“I know that the Dutch government has invested a lot of money in the Rwandan legal system, but the legal system is still not independent. Judges pretend not to know the laws and do what the government says.”

Why then is President Kagame so attractive for Western leaders to work with?

“We are making some progress economically. But he (Kagame) mainly invests in the beautiful buildings and hotels, as a center for international meetings. This is why people call Rwanda a ‘development miracle’. But he failed to build sustainable development in education, infrastructure and the agricultural sector. His government needs reform so that it can become more tolerant, democratic and inclusive of critics. Because without democracy we cannot achieve sustainable development.”

“When he took office, he said he wanted to help refugees because he was a refugee himself. That’s why he wanted to do business with the United Kingdom. But in the meantime, there is always tension between Rwanda and neighboring countries. We have a big problem with DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo).”

After the genocide, Rwandan Tutsis sought safety in neighboring countries such as the DRC. The rebel group M23, which the United Nations says is supported by Rwanda, has been carrying out attacks on civilians in eastern Congo for decades. Nearly seven million Congolese have fled, and violence flared up again in October. Nevertheless, Rwanda’s support for this militia is no reason for the UK or other European countries to suspend cooperation.

Are migrants even more oppressed than Rwandan citizens?

“Of course. We have Congolese refugees who have been here for more than twenty years. In 2018 they rebelled over food shortages. They organized a demonstration, not against the Rwandan government, but against the UN organization UNHCR. The government will not tolerate any demonstrations, so the police shot at them. Twelve protesters were killed and 65 were jailed.”

“The Rwandan Foreign Minister, when his UK counterpart was here, said to the journalist who asked him about the shooting of these refugees: ‘That was years ago, that doesn’t happen anymore.’ But what guarantee can the government give that this will not happen? If you still do not give freedom to your people, to your opposition?”

“And so I wonder what will happen if these refugees are sent to Rwanda and they want to express their dissatisfaction.”

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