Suella Braverman insists Rwanda is a âsafe countryâ to send migrants although Home Secretary admits she didnât know refugees were shot at by police in African country in 2018
- Suella Braverman says she is âconvinced it is safe to send refugees to Rwandaâ
By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED:Â 10:24 BST, 2 April 2023Â |Â UPDATED:Â 12:01 BST, 2 April 2023
Suella Braverman today insisted Rwanda is a âsafeâ place to send migrants â although she admitted she wasnât aware refugees had previously been shot at by the countryâs police.
The Home Secretary defended the Governmentâs plans to send those who come to Britain illegally on a one-way ticket to the African nation despite being challenged over a 2018 incident.
In an interview with the BBCâs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Mrs Braverman was grilled about United Nations allegations that a protest by a group of refugees five years ago was responded to by the firing of live rounds.
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The refugeesâ demonstration over food rations ended in the killing of 12 people, the Home Secretary heard, as she was shown footage of the aftermath of the 2018 case.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has previously condemned violence at the Kiziba refugee camp in western Rwanda, which houses thousands of people from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mrs Braverman conceded she was ânot familiarâ with the incident having earlier said she was âconvinced it is safe to send refugees to Rwandaâ.
The Home Secretary vowed to press ahead with the Rwanda policy, following the striking of a £120million agreement with Kigali last April.
Suella Braverman challenged over police shooting refugees in Rwanda
Suella Braverman admitted she wasnât aware refugees had previously been shot at by police in Rwanda
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The Home Secretary was shown footage of the aftermath of the 2018 incident in the African country
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Mrs Braverman was grilled about United Nations allegations that a protest by a group of refugees five years ago was responded to by the firing of live rounds
âThat might be 2018, weâre looking at 2023 and beyond,â Mrs Braverman said.
âThe High Court â senior expert judges â have looked into the detail of our arrangements with Rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful.
âRwanda, from where I have just returned, takes 100,000 refugees and resettles them.
âI met some of them in Rwanda, on my recent visit, from countries in the region.
âThey had nothing but gratitude and thanks for Rwanda for the resettlement scheme that Rwanda has put on, for over 100,000 people who are fleeing persecution, fleeing conflict.
âThey have a track record of successfully resettling and integrating people who are refugees or asylum seekers.
âI think we are on strong ground to say Rwanda is a safe country, it is the right for solution for us grappling with our small boats problem.
âAnd I believe it will strike the right balance of providing a humanitarian package of support for people who are refugees, at the same time as being a deterrent to those seeking a life in the UK.âÂ
The Home Secretary acknowledged there was a provision for asylum seekers to challenge having been sent to Rwanda under her plans should âextreme circumstancesâ occur.
She also failed to rule out Britain accepting refugees from Rwanda under the terms of the arrangement with Kigali â although Mrs Braverman insisted the âbalance and the realityâ of the deal would be âRwanda taking people from the UKâ.
Braverman will not give a deadline for Rwanda flightsâ take off
Despite the asylum deal with Rwanda being struck almost a year ago, no migrants have yet been sent to the African country from Britain.
The Rwanda agreement is part of ministersâ efforts to stem the number migrants coming to Britain across the Channel, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunakâs pledge to âstop the boatsâ.Â
Mrs Braverman this morning refused to commit to migrant flights to Rwanda beginning by this summer, despite previous suggestions thatâs when they could start.
âWe are making very steady progress. I am not going to give a deadline as to when flights will take off,â she told Sky Newsâ Sophy Ridge on Sunday show in an earlier TV interview.
Mrs Braverman also refused to confirm reports that ministers are close to signing a contract with Portland Port Authority over âfloating accommodationâ for asylum seekers.
The Home Secretary defended herself amid criticism of the Governmentâs proposed new laws to reduce Channel migrant crossings.
âI see my role as Home Secretary as getting results, ultimately; taking action for the British people,â she said.
âI see myself as telling the truth for the British people to the British people.
âI see myself as being a voice for the law-abiding, patriotic often silent majority.
âI see myself being heavily informed by the people in my constituency in Fareham who just want us to stop the boats, who want to see common-sense policing, who want to keep the British people safe.
âThatâs my objective as Home Secretary and if the BBC or various celebrities are offended, then so be it.â
Labourâs shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy dismissed the idea of her party keeping the Governmentâs Rwanda scheme as she suggested it would never become reality.
She told the BBC: âI donât think weâre ever going to be in the situation where we have to dismantle this because I donât think itâs real, just like the barges that the Home Secretary promised this week that it turns out didnât exist.
âThis is just yet another way of distracting from the fact that theyâre only processing 1 per cent of the asylum claims of people who arrived last year.
âThe reason that our hotels are full is because they havenât got a grip on the asylum system, they arenât processing claims and they havenât got a returns agreement with France.
âThatâs what we would do. Weâd set up a cell to tackle the criminal gangs working across borders. Weâd process our asylum claims swiftly and weâd get a grip on the asylum system.â
Ms Nandy claimed the Home Secretary should be âashamed of herself for touring the TV studios making more and more bold claims when she canât even do the basics of her own jobâ.Â