Musings From Abroad

UN condemns UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, calls it modern day slavery

Published

3 years ago

April 16, 2022

The United Nations has condemned plans by the United Kingdom to send illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, accusing the UK of a “modern slavery” and treating migrants like “commodities.”

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in a statement on Friday, said it was “firmly opposed” to the plans unveiled by the UK and Rwandan governments.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is driving the deal and has been adamant in seeing it go through, had said when he announced it that he expected legal challenges to follow.

But Johnson has insisted that his scheme to “detain and fly asylum seekers more than 9,600 kilometres to the East African country was not draconian and lacking in compassion” but a compassionate move.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, also said that the UK was prepared to fight any legal attempts to block the plans which have been heavily criticised by refugee charities.

The UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, said the scheme was “contrary to the letter and spirit of the Refugee Convention”.

“People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and empathy. They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing.”

Though the UK government has not said how much the programme would cost, reports say the deal is worth a whopping £120 million ($157m) to Rwanda.

The Times reported that each migrant sent to East Africa would cost the UK government between £20,000 ($26,000) to £30,000 ($39,000) and that the government wants to start the programme in six weeks.

Related Topics:asylum Featured Rwanda UK United Nations

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

19 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.