Rwanda opposition chief urges UK to ditch £240m migrant deal amid fears

A Rwandan opposition chief is urging the UK to ditch its migrants deal, warning her nation has mismanaged funds previously.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who served eight years in jail for difficult Rwanda’s dictatorship, raised the alarm because it emerged the UK had despatched £100million additional as a part of the scheme. An additional £50m is anticipated to be paid – and no migrants have but been moved there.

Ms Umuhoza stated the deal, which has value us £240m to date, should be safeguarded. Official Rwandan figures present the nation misplaced £4m to mismanagement within the 12 months to June 30, 2022 – greater than double the earlier 12 months and £106,000 of which was fraudulently diverted.

Ms Umuhoza, 52, stated: “The auditor general has found mismanagement of public funds many times. We don’t know if this money will be mismanaged but it has happened before.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has jailed different opponents, together with YouTubers and journalists. His son Ivan was appointed to the regime-run Rwanda Development Board in 2020 and reportedly moved right into a £5.4m home in Beverly Hills, LA, in 2021. He was additionally snapped carrying what was stated to be a £263,000 Richard Mille watch.

There isn’t any suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Kagame or his household. But Ms Umuhoza identified Rwanda will not be prosperous, including: “The British Government should drop this plan. Rwanda is poor, refugees cannot find a job here. We have nothing to offer. I’m sure the refugees will not stay here.”

Human Rights Watch slammed the 2012 jailing of DALFA-Umurinzi occasion chief Ms Umuhoza – who’s pro-democracy – for conspiracy towards Rwanda by terrorism and battle and genocide denial as “flawed” and “politically motivated”. She added: “Rwanda is not a free country for refugees. We have journalists and YouTubers in prison for challenging the narrative.” The Home Office stated: “The Government is committed to doing whatever it takes to stop the boats and get flights to Rwanda off the ground.”