A refugee who fled torture in Rwanda and was given asylum in the UK has criticised government plans to fly unauthorised migrants to his home country.
The 42-year-old journalist told the Guardian that even though he has been granted refugee status here he remains in fear of being targeted by Rwandan government agents in the UK.
The man, who lost many family members in the country’s 1994 genocide, decided to become a journalist after he left school in the country’s capital Kigali, because he had concerns about government corruption. He worked for a newspaper which was critical of President Kagame and his government, and was later shut down.
He was accused of being an ‘enemy of the state’and was captured trying to flee across the border, blindfolded and tortured for four months.
His torturers – who used electric shocks on him – tried to get him to reveal the names of his journalistic sources working for the government, but he refused.
He eventually managed to escape to the UK, where he had a mental breakdown. He claimed asylum and after a long legal battle was granted refugee status, with the Home Office accepting his account of what happened to him.
Government plans to send unauthorised asylum seekers on a one-way ticket to Rwanda have been roundly condemned as inhumane and unworkable. The prime minister on Thursday outlined the proposals to hand an initial down-payment of £120m to Kagame’s administration in the hope that it will accept “tens of thousands” of people.
“I know of so many Rwandans who have fled the country,” he said. “Anyone who criticises Kagame, it is not good for them. Not so many Rwandans come to the UK but some escape to Germany, to Belgium or to Holland or to other African countries like Zambia and Mozambique.”
“Rwanda is a good country for image, but not for freedom of speech. I’m really shocked that the offshoring to Rwanda is happening. It is like selling people. It’s really shameful for a country like the UK to be doing this. It’s like a business,” he said.
“People will suffer there but it won’t stop the smuggling gangs. I believe asylum seekers will get bad treatment in Rwanda. I live outside London because the Rwandan embassy is in London and I don’t want to be near them. So many Rwandans who have left the country live in fear wherever they are.”
He said he was scared of what would happen to him if he was ever sent back to Rwanda. “Those who oppose Kagame end up in prison. The Rwandan government use torture and violence against their opponents.”
