Rwandan legislators, on Thursday, February 22, voted to give preliminary approval to the new UK-Rwanda migration treaty.

Signed on December 5, 2023 in Kigali by the foreign ministers of the two countries, the deal seeks to revive the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP), which was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court in November of the same year.

The arrangement aims to relocate people who arrive in the UK in small boats to Rwanda where they could claim asylum.

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According to the United Nations, more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing in 2023 while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.

The parliamentary approval marks a good initial step, but the treaty must undergo some more stages before it is counted fully approved. The subsequent phase is one where the parliamentary committee responsible for such issues will scrutinise the deal’s contents.

Out of the 62 MPs who were present in the session, 58 voted in favour of the deal while two voted against it. Some two votes were invalid.

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Presenting the agreement to the parliament on Thursday, Justice Minister Emmanuel Ugirashebuja explained to the MPs its contents and the reason why Rwanda entered into it.

He noted that the deal is geared towards solving the global migration crisis, as he pointed out that it is not the first time that Rwanda is doing such, giving an example of the African asylum seekers trapped in Libya who are being hosted in Rwanda for the past couple of years as they process their next destination.

"Many of us, Rwandans, have a history of having been refugees in various countries. We also have a history of repatriating many Rwandan refugees in a short time. With that, we find that we should contribute to solving the problem of refugees and migrants in Africa and elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Talking about the details of the deal, he said it entails a standard operating procedure aimed at protecting the migrants against refoulement.

In that regard, an independent committee will be in place to audit the implementation of the agreement, in addition to which there will be an appeal institution to which migrants can go in case of anything they deem unfair.

The appeal institution will be headed by a Rwandan judge working together with another counterpart from a commonwealth country. It will also employ more judges from various commonwealth countries, with knowledge on human rights.

He added that up to 151 workers have been trained to receive and take care of the migrants.

About the welfare of the migrants, Ugirashebuja said the UK agreed to provide funds for establishing infrastructure and support for them.

In addition, he said the UK will support Rwanda’s development programmes in general in order to not only impact the migrants but also Rwandans in general.

The MPs asked a number of questions to Ugirashebuja. For example, MP Frank Habineza asked why the UK wants to "transfer its responsibilities” to Rwanda.

"I think it is the responsibility of the UK to receive them. So, the UK’s responsibility shouldn’t be transferred to Rwanda. Though Rwanda has done a lot of good things and continues to do so, the UK shouldn’t transfer its burden to Rwanda,” he said.

His counterpart Jean Ntezimana asked about the money that the UK will be sending to Rwanda as part of the migration deal, and why the UK does not use it to take care of them from its own land.

Addressing the questions, Ugirashebuja insisted that the reason, on Rwanda’s part, is to provide a solution to the migration crisis.

"In the talks we had with the UK, all of us understood that we need to work together to look for a solution for this problem,” he said.

"The money was not what we put at the forefront. The first thing is that the two countries, especially Rwanda for which I am speaking, provide a solution to the problem,” he added.