The Rwandan ambassador has lashed out at Suella Braverman’s immigration plans, describing the British government’s position as “absolutely wrong”.
Johnston Busingye, the high commissioner of Rwanda, is supportive of British proposals to send asylum seekers to his country but called for the UK to address the wider causes of immigration.
He was secretly recorded claiming it was “immoral” for Britain to pose as a compassionate country when it comes to migration.
His comments were revealed days after Ms Braverman faced a furious backlash for a speech in the US on immigration in which she claimed that fearing persecution over being gay or a woman is not enough to claim asylum.
In a sting operation organised by the Led By Donkeys campaign group, Mr Busingye was told he was meeting a businessman from a southeast Asian company wanting to invest in his country.
In the footage, seen by The Observer, he dismisses evidence that 12 refugees were shot dead by police in Rwanda in 2018, saying: “It might have happened, but so what?”
And, asked about Britain’s immigration policy, he said he would tell Ms Braverman it was “absolutely wrong”.
He added: “They should have a long-term policy of making it a choice for people not to risk their lives coming to the UK. Because right now, many people are not coming here because of war in their country. No, they’re coming here because they are hopeless. They’re coming here because they have no future.”
“It is immoral for this country to still see themselves as the refugee country, the solace country, the protection country, the compassion country.
“They enslaved millions of people for 400 years. They destroyed India, they destroyed China, they destroyed Africa.”
Asked about his comments, Mr Busingye told The Observer: “No country can claim to be wholly compassionate at all times. What’s important is how we set about addressing the wrongs of the past.”
He said his comments about Britain’s short-term approach to migration are “applicable to all nations in the global North”.
And he praised Britain’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as “an important first step” in tackling imbalance.
The UK government said the Rwanda plan was an “innovative solution to stop the boats and break the business model of the people-smuggling gangs”.
“We remain fully committed to this policy, as does the Rwandan government. We will continue to defend the policy robustly in the courts,” a spokesperson said.
The home secretary used a speech in the US on Tuesday to say that “simply being gay, or a woman” should not by itself be enough to gain protection under international refugee laws.
LGBT+ and human rights campaigners dubbed Ms Braverman a “dangerous fool”, while Conservative moderates and opposition parties accused her of pushing “dog whistle” politics to boost her leadership credentials with the Tory right.
Ms Braverman called on world leaders to make major changes to the UN Refugee Convention, arguing it had become far too generous to migrants, during her address to a right-wing think tank in Washington DC.
