A group of migrants was transferred to Rwanda from a remote UK territory by the British government over a year ago. They say they feel isolated and unsafe – with one describing the African country as an “open prison”.
With political parties divided over the government’s controversial plan to send asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, the BBC has travelled to the African state to speak to four of the migrants already there – albeit under a separate agreement – about their experience in the country.
The small group arrived from Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. They say their complex medical needs, in some cases as the result of past rape and torture, are not being met in Rwanda.
Each of them receives the equivalent of $50 (£39) a week for food and other essentials, but under the terms of their stay – agreed by the UK and Rwandan governments – they are not permitted to work.
All four say they have faced harassment and unwanted sexual advances on the street. They say they are, in effect, “self-imprisoned” – too scared to go out – while they wait for the UK to find somewhere permanent for them to live.
The group – all Sri Lankan Tamils – were transferred to Rwanda for urgent medical care after suicide attempts. They are now out of military hospital and living in two flats on the outskirts of the capital, Kigali, paid for by British authorities.
Their legal status in Rwanda is not the same as it would be for asylum seekers flown there from the UK – but a lawyer representing two of the four says their “negative experiences do raise serious concerns” about Rwanda’s ability to offer a safe haven for “very vulnerable refugees”.
A senior Rwandan official told the BBC she had “complete faith” in her country’s medical system and the migrants’ concerns about personal safety were not shared by others. “We have a thriving foreign population here,” she added.
None of the four tried to enter the UK – instead they filed asylum claims on Diego Garcia, which is used as a secretive UK-US military base.
They were among dozens of people to arrive on the island in October 2021 – previously reported by the BBC. They said they had been fleeing persecution and trying to sail to Canada to claim asylum.
The four we met in Rwanda said they had been victims of torture and sexual violence in their home countries – some because of past links with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were defeated in Sri Lanka’s civil war 15 years ago.
Down a quiet road, in a two-bedroom apartment, Azhagu says he has been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and uncertainty about his future and the isolation are making things worse.
“We are not getting proper medical treatment. We have mental health issues,” says the 23-year-old. “Whenever we go and tell the doctors about our problems they can’t help us.”
Rwandan medical staff have shouted at him, he alleges, and on one occasion after self-harming, he says he was threatened with arrest and told to return to Diego Garcia.
Mayur, 26, who shares the apartment, says he has given up on counselling. He says he doesn’t get proper medicine and doesn’t get to have “a good conversation”. “That’s why I don’t want to go to the hospital,” he adds.
Lawyer Tom Short, from UK firm Leigh Day, says an independent expert assessment found “each of our clients has complex medical needs which are not being met in Rwanda”.
We approached the military hospital where all the Tamils have been receiving treatment, but we were referred to the Rwandan government.
The top Rwandan official in charge of the deal to transfer asylum seekers from the UK, Doris Uwicyeza Picard, defended her country’s medical system – adding the migrants were being treated “to the best of our ability”.
