Refugees in Rwanda warn of challenging times ahead for arrivals from UK
With Britain bidding to send its first group of asylum-seekers to Rwanda later today, after the Court of Appeal in London rejected an appeal on Monday, some refugees already in the country are warning that times may be hard for the new arrivals.
“Sometimes I play football and in the evening I drink because I have nothing to do,” said Faisal, a 20-year-old from Ethiopia who was relocated to Rwanda from Libya in 2019 in the first group of refugees resettled under a deal with the United Nations.
“I pray daily to God that I leave this place,” he added.
Giving only his first name out of fear of retaliation, Faisal spends his days at the Gashora centre built to house refugees who had languished in Libya while trying to reach Europe. Gashora is called a transit centre, but some like Faisal see nowhere to go.
Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and still among the least developed, despite its focus on modernising since the country’s 1994 genocide.
The migrants who sought better lives in Britain are expected to find fewer chances to pursue their dreams here, even as Rwandan officials describe their country as having a proud history of welcoming those in need.
One of those who has found a foothold is Urubel Tesfaye, a 22-year-old from Ethiopia who is happy he found a part-time job in a bakery in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. But his friends speak of moving on to Canada or the Netherlands.
“They have a disease in the head and cannot settle here,” Tesfaye said of their determination to move.
Some Rwandans said the local economy isn’t ready to handle the people arriving from Britain.
“Look, many people are unemployed here,” said Rashid Rutazigwa, a mechanic in the capital. He said he didn’t see many opportunities
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