Braverman visits her £120 million Rwandan internment camp

The UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman flew to Rwanda to visit an internment camp where illegal refugees to the UK would be deported and held in a £120 million-pound deal with the African nation. Braverman was given a tour of the facility by Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta. She described the housing as “Beautiful” and “high quality”. Braverman stated on the visit “We are delighted and excited to be creating a vibrant community” 

The Home Secretary was accompanied by journalists from GB news, The Daily Mail, and the Telegraph but other major UK news publications like The Guardian, Daily Mirror and very notably the BBC were not invited. The visit has been criticised by anti-torture advocacy group Freedom from Torture, who called it a “showboat ship”. 

The government’s plan has faced backlash from various human rights groups including the European Court of Human Rights who have pushed back on the government’s deportation scheme. Braverman herself is at odds with the court, saying: "In a whole range of policy areas, I think sometimes the jurisprudence from the Strasbourg Court is at odds with the will of Parliament, or British values more generally." 

The Human Rights watch does not think that Rwanda is a safe place for refugees. Free speech is stifled by the government. They say: “YouTube continued to be a contested space for free speech in Rwanda. In recent years, frustrated by the absence of critical debate in the media, some Rwandan bloggers and commentators have taken to the platform to publish videos on sensitive issues and discuss current matters. Such matters include evictions from poor neighbourhoods of the capital Kigali, the strict lockdowns imposed in response to Covid-19, or the 1994 genocide commemorations.” 

According to The Human Rights Watch: “On September 30, Idamange Yvonne, a Tutsi genocide survivor who accused the government of monetizing the genocide and called for a protest, was found guilty of inciting violence and public uprising, denigrating genocide artefacts, and spreading rumours and violent assault, among other charges.” Her trial was held behind closed doors, and she was handed a 15-year sentence. 

On May 31st, Karasira Aimable was arrested on charges including denying and justifying the genocide and instigating divisions. For several months, he had repeatedly been harassed and summoned by Rwandan authorities for posting critical videos on YouTube speaking about his family’s history and the genocide. He spoke out about killings by RPF soldiers in the aftermath of the genocide.”  

The Governments plan has faced legal backlash as Asylum seekers and aid group filed lawsuits against the government to stop the plan from going forward.