For more than two decades now Rwanda has been home to tens of thousands of Congolese refugees, providing them with not just shelter but protection and a dignified life as well. Similarly, tens of thousands of Burundians have lived in Rwanda for more than half a decade.

Together, Rwanda is home to nearly 130,000 refugees from around the region.

The country also hosts migrants and asylum seekers rescued from Libya where they were stranded and exposed to all kinds of abuse as they attempted to take perilous long journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life outside of Africa. 

More recently, it has also received refugees from as far as Afghanistan, while other nationalities from Asian countries, Americas, Europe, and Africa have also moved to and established themselves in Rwanda. Many have since set up businesses here and are actively contributing to the economy.

While the majority of foreign nationals might have come looking for safety, many are economic migrants or businesses who found opportunity in Rwanda. To a large part, this has been made possible by Rwanda’s open border policy, which allows all nationals to get a visa on arrival.

But even those who arrived in Rwanda as refugees fleeing violence have since been integrated in the community and enjoy access to education, healthcare and financial services.

This friendly policy toward refugees and migrants is in part linked to the country’s history. Rwanda was one of the first African countries to produce refugees – as far back as 1959, thanks to colonialist-instigated pogroms – and at one point the majority of the adult population had virtually been refugees at one point in time. Rwanda has also been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts globally and is today the largest contributor of peacekeepers on the African continent.

It’s also one of the countries that have strongly thrown their weight behind the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, which seeks to ensure that the international community should never again fail to halt the mass atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Understandably, again, this stand by Rwanda is largely informed by the international community’s indifference at a time when Rwandans needed help – during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

It is, therefore, not unexpected that Rwanda is always willing to contribute toward finding a solution to human suffering, anywhere. Indeed, Kigali’s decision to extend a helping hand to migrants and asylum seekers in the UK who’re unable to secure residence there is very much in keeping with this longstanding policy on migrants and moral obligation to provide protection to anyone in need of safety. 

It is, therefore, shocking that this act of generosity has come under severe attack by some people, including sections of the media. This, despite the fact that the status quo in the global migration system has failed to address continued human suffering and loss of human life. 

The world needs more compassion and open migration policies.