Rwanda’s government has earmarked the two sites to host asylum seekers expected to be sent from the United Kingdom as part of a 220-million-pound ($272m) deal to relocate refugees landing on British shores to the East African country.
After months of wrangling and concerns over the human rights implications of the deal, the UK’s parliament passed the bill late on Monday.
It is expected to become law soon despite a cascade of issues regarding the plan’s feasibility, cost and legality and continued criticism from refugee rights activists.
Known locations
The Hope Hostel neighbourhood on the outskirts of Kigali bustles with street sellers, moto taxis and imposing villas.
According to its managing director, Ismael Bakina, the hostel has 50 double rooms, which can host up to 100 guests.
Initially, the hostel had a different purpose. Until two years ago, it housed survivors of the 1994 genocide, which killed almost a million people, mostly minority ethnic Tutsis. But after former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel visited the premises on a tightly controlled tour in 2022, the survivors were evacuated without housing alternatives.
For now, the hostel sits empty, awaiting the political process in the UK to reach a conclusion. Bakina told Al Jazeera it is ready to receive asylum seekers as soon as the first flights take off.
In the surrounding neighbourhood, Rwandans were hesitant to speak to Al Jazeera about the deal. Rights groups have often criticised Rwanda for its repressive political environment and restrictions of freedoms of expression. Journalists, opposition figures and activists have also been [jailed or disappeared after criticising the government. Residents who did share their views did so anonymously, and some offered a more neutral take.
One 35-year-old woman named Dativ told Al Jazeera the plan sounded like a great idea because money would come into Rwanda and asylum seekers would bring more employees into the service sector. Rwanda’s economy mainly relies on services, tourism and agriculture.
A 45-year-old man who works as a taxi driver in the same neighbourhood and who refused to give his name, said it could go both ways: Rwandans could have more work but the relocated asylum seekers could also be competing with locals for job opportunities.
A Rwandan government spokesperson said asylum seekers from the UK would receive training and be introduced to the job market.
But Rwandans face an employment crisis with 15 percent of the labour force unemployed in 2023, according to the World Bank, and the youth unemployment rate was even higher at more than 20 percent.
Unemployment and housing crisis
The UK has provided Rwanda with an initial 220 million pounds ($272m) to take in asylum seekers for five years and has committed 370 million pounds ($456m) over the next five years, regardless of how many people are sent to Rwanda. But when the law passes, each asylum seeker would cost UK taxpayers about 1.8 million pounds ($2.2m), according to the UK auditor.
“We won’t be able to give them jobs. They’ll have money from the UK, but after that finishes, what happens?” Frank Habinenza, head of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and the only opposition politician elected to parliament, told Al Jazeera.
“We are a small economy with high unemployment and few jobs,” added the aspiring candidate in July’s presidential election.
Kigali has more than 1.2 million inhabitants and its population is increasing while Rwanda has one of the highest population densities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Fears of rights violations
Ingabire said that while the UK money could be beneficial for the country, Rwandans need to “realise we’re talking about human beings here”.
The deal has been widely seen as illegal and immoral for violating the 1951 UN Refugee Convention protecting the right to asylum as well as European and UK laws.
“Human rights are also a problem because they didn’t choose to come here. They chose to go to the UK, and the UN obliges countries to accept refugees,” Hubinenza said.
“Rwanda welcomes refugees but only if they want to be here, not if they’re forced to come here. That is why the deal is illegal, and it’s against the dignity of the refugees and our people,” he added.
The UK government has repeatedly said Rwanda is a safe country with a strong history of providing protection, safety and sanctuary to refugees despite the UK Supreme Court decision saying the opposite.
Rwanda is home to more than 135,000 refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries in the region, but they are supported by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and not the Rwandan government.
“People will come here, and after a few months, they will go back to the UK,” said Ingabire, comparing the latest deal with the Israeli one. She said the Rwandan government knows that but is still going ahead with the proposal due to its financial incentive.
After the UK’s Rwanda deal gets final approval this week, the first deportations will happen at the start of July, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
“I don’t have any kind words about this deal,” Habinenza said. “There’s a fear of division in the country, and we don’t want any politics on ethnic, cultural or religious divisions, so we need to be careful of the impact of our policies on those divisions.”