2024-01-26 09:36:52
You can’t look the other way.
The Rwandan genocide was an attempted extermination of the Tutsi population by the hegemonic Hutu government of Rwanda between April 7 and July 15, 1994, in which approximately 70% of Tutsis were murdered. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people were killed. Sexual violence was widespread; It is believed that between 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped during the genocide.
According to the 2015 Gallup report, two decades later, it is the safest country on the continent and the fifth in the world. Rwanda has developed some of the most women-friendly policies in the world. In 2019, with forty-nine women in Parliament, the percentage rises to sixty-one percent: the highest in the world. Four of the seven seats on the supreme court are held by women.
In April 2022 the British government proposed the Rwanda asylum plan. It is an immigration (removal) policy whereby people identified by the United Kingdom as illegal immigrants or asylum seekers would be transferred to Rwanda for “processing, asylum and resettlement.”
The first flight of this plan received legal authorization from the High Court and was scheduled for June 14, 2022. A last-minute interim measure by the European Court of Human Rights caused the plan to come to a halt. In late 2022, the High Court further ruled that, although the plan was legal, the individual cases of eight asylum seekers who were due to be deported that year should be reconsidered. The Court of Appeal ruled on June 29, 2023 that the plan was unlawful.
The agreement is valid for five years. Its objectives were to reduce the number of migrants across the English Channel, stop human trafficking and boost investment and development in Rwanda. According to the prime minister, this plan would “save countless lives” and break the business model of “vile people smugglers.” The UK would have paid Rwanda an “economic integration and transformation fund” worth £120 million, and would also finance each migrant between £20,000 and £30,000 for their relocation and temporary accommodation under the framework. of the plan.
The agreement with the Rwandan government did not specify how many migrants it accepted, but it was later reported to be 200. By comparison, net migration to the UK was 504,000 as of June 2022. The government recorded 45,755 people arriving by small boat in 2022, 60% more than in 2021, according to the Ministry of the Interior. In total 161,000 asylum cases.
Upon arrival in Rwanda, the migrants would have been temporarily housed in the capital, Kigali, while their asylum applications were processed. Some would receive permanent residence in the country and permanent accommodation. All applications were expected to have taken, at most, three months to process. Once in Rwanda, the migrants would not have been allowed to return to the UK to seek asylum.
Something similar is also proposed in Germany. In the same way that the United Kingdom, far-right and not-so-far-right parties propose the transfer of immigrants to countries such as Morocco, Senegal, Rwanda and Ghana. They also target Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Moldova. According to a spokesperson “people will no longer pay smugglers and traffickers, they will no longer travel these dangerous Mediterranean routes. Then these terrible deaths will cease and then the rights of the strongest will cease, because almost only young men come.”
Do we have no other solution to this tragedy than to return to deportations and concentration camps?
This year 17,500 asylum seekers arrived on the Greek islands near Turkey between July and September, compared to around 17,000 in the whole of 2022. Around 160,000 refugees live in Greece, of which around 35,000 live in refugee camps. Many have made asylum applications, but the Greek authorities in charge of processing this long and complicated process are being overwhelmed by so many applications. There are five Reception and Identification Centers on the Greek Aegean Islands, where refugees lack information about their legal status and are subjected to harsh border and asylum procedures.
Turkey currently hosts the largest refugee population in the world, with nearly 4 million people. Most refugees live outside the camps. While providing registered refugees with access to basic rights and services, the rising cost of living and lack of access to income opportunities make it increasingly difficult for refugee families to get ahead. Spain hosts 320,000 refugees. There are 13 “processing” centers. On June 24, 2022, Moroccan and Spanish security forces used force on people trying to enter Melilla through a border crossing between Spain and Morocco. At least 37 black people died, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, and 76 are missing. At the moment there is no clear explanation of what happened.
Small brushstrokes. In addition to what has already been written, the countries with the most refugees, data for 2022, are: Iran, 3,425.09, Jordan 3,062,851, the West Bank and Gaza 2,454,258. Germany 2,075,445, Pakistan 1,743,785, Uganda 1,463,523, Lebanon 1,306,143, Russia 1,277,672. To consult more data by country:
What can we say to children who spend most of their lives in a refugee camp? Is this the advanced world?
#Rwanda #Plan #Refugees #Marine #Science #matters