After arriving at Kigali International airport, asylum seekers will be handed over to Rwandan authorities and driven to Hope Hostel in the city.
“Then they’ll have an opportunity to rest, or have breakfast, clean up in their rooms,” the Rwandan government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, said. “And then at some point in the day, or the next day, they will start orientation.”
This includes registration, Covid testing and beginning asylum applications, but also “basic information” about Rwanda, its weather and geography. They will be given details of the benefits they are entitled to, which include a mobile phone and a monthly allowance of 100,000 Rwandan francs (about £80).
“They’ll be able to sign up for language classes,” Makolo said. “There’s sports and games and recreational activities.
“There might be some curfew times because it’s a temporary accommodation, there’s lots of people, it’s a shared space, but the idea is that they can go walk around the neighbourhood. Once they settle down we will show them the city, we will take them on tours so they can have a sense of the city they’re living in and what’s around them.”
She added that there will be social workers and counsellors on hand for people who are “distressed”.
Doris Uwicyeza Picard, the lead legal adviser to Rwanda’s ministry of justice, added: “Once a person arrives, within 24 hours they’re granted temporary residence of three months by the department of immigration. The department then transfers the file of the applicant to the committee within 15 days, following which the committee has to give a decision within 45 days.”
She said if an application is unsuccessful, a person can appeal within 30 days. But she stressed that authorities are keen for people to stay in Rwanda, so will endeavour to find them other avenues of legal residence.
Makolo said they are making arrangements for families who arrive with children, or women who want to be housed in female-only accommodation. She said they are in discussions with five or six more hotels to secure more accommodation.
Makolo said opponents of the scheme failed to see the “bigger picture” and she was insulted by some of the criticism.
“There’s a point that we want to get across as Africans: that Africa should not be looked at as a place which creates problems and creates migrants and creates refugees,” she said. “Of course, we have conflicts, there are pockets of conflict everywhere. But then we have pockets of safety, and growth, and opportunities like in Rwanda. And we want that to be known as well.
“We’ve been asked: ‘Why don’t the migrants want to come to Rwanda?’ Part of it is the narrative that’s out there that Africa is a shithole, you know, for lack of a better word. And it’s not, it’s not true. It’s insulting for us, we live here and are working really hard to make this country work, we want to see Africa succeed.”
