Friends condemn plans to send refugees to Rwanda
'There is no place in international law for a “two-tier” system, with Rwanda for the less favoured, as this amounts to discrimination in the application of the law.’
Quakers have slammed government plans to send refugees to Rwanda. The proposals have also been heavily criticised by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, who called them ‘ungodly’.
David Forbes, a member of Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN), said that it was right to describe the plans as ‘ungodly’, invoking parables such as the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son, which champion love and care. ‘The Rwanda measure is a clear breach of these principles. Article 31 of the Refugee Convention expressly prohibits the imposition of penalties on refugees who arrive illegally. Article 33 protects refugees from “refoulement”, i.e. being turned away. Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits discrimination in the recognition of Convention Rights, one of which – Article 3 – is designed to provide protection from danger or harm in the place of origin of the protected person. There is no place in international law for a “two-tier” system, with Rwanda for the less favoured, as this amounts to discrimination in the application of the law.’
London Quaker Fred Ashmore told the Friend that the proposal ‘seems a shocking culmination of this parliamentary session’, which he has watched with ‘sorrow and disbelief… The proposal is to take people who perfectly legally seek asylum in this country, fly them 5,000 miles and dump them into Rwanda’s regime for assessing right to asylum… “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matt 7:9).’
Libby Ruffle, a member of QARN Steering Group and from Woodbridge Meeting, said she found the ‘cynical partnering’ with Rwanda ‘chilling’. ‘We haven’t begun to address our indifference to the genocide in Rwanda and the prejudice behind it; our guilt has led to a situation where we feel unable to criticise Paul Kagame’s government – now a dictatorship, but one of people who paradoxically ended the genocide. What’s “ungodly” is treating something this hard to reconcile so lightly. To even consider people-trading shows how little care we have for genuine healing and rebuilding in Rwanda.’
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