British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the deal reached with Kigali in Rwanda on Thursday to send illegal immigrants from the UK to the African country and urged opponents to “be open-minded”.
“What critics of this program have to understand, and I’ve seen a lot of criticism, is that Rwanda has undergone a complete transformation over the past two decades,” Johnson told reporters after visiting a school in Kigali.
Human rights groups, religious leaders, as well as institutions such as the UN, have criticized the deal on immigrants.
According to British media, Prince Charles opposes the government’s plan and described it as “terrible”.
After the first flight to Kigali was blocked on 14 June by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), no immigrants from England have yet been deported.
The British government submitted a bill to Parliament on Wednesday to circumvent the Court’s jurisdiction.
Johnson accused his critics of basing their criticism on “perceptions and stereotypes that Rwanda has overcome”.
This small East African country bore the scars of the genocide it suffered in 1994, but now has high growth rates, although it has often been criticized for its human rights policy.
In an open letter to Commonwealth leaders, 23 civil society and human rights organizations said Rwanda is experiencing a “climate of fear”.
source: Noticias
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