Suella Braverman has stated that she is “not familiar” with the widely reported five-year-old massacre of at least twelve refugees by Rwandan police.
When questioned about the event on Sunday in light of the government’s intentions to send migrants who arrive in the UK on small boats to Rwanda, the home secretary appeared to blank out.
Eight people who had escaped ethnic persecution and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo were killed in 2018, according to the UN, after local officers opened fire in response to protests about food rations outside one of its major relief centers in Rwanda.
Another three were said to have been killed by police guarding a nearby refugee camp after news of the deaths ignited tensions.
Suella Braverman insists Rwanda is safe despite 2018 killing of refugees by police
It was later reported that a twelfth victim had died from her injuries,w hile two pregnant women who fled the shooting miscarried.
Rwanda, which claims only five died, insists live rounds were used as a ‘last resort’ protesters at the aid centre had wounded seven officers using ‘stones, sticks and metal projectiles’ and an immigration official had been taken hostage at the camp.
But Human Rights Watch insists they were unarmed and the UN condemned the use of force as ‘disproportionate’ and ‘unacceptable’.
Ms Braverman has repeatedly insisted Rwanda is a safe country for migrants, many of whom are set to be flown there if found to have entered the UK through illegal routes.
Asked about the 2018 incident – which was reported across the world – on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said: ‘I’m not familiar with that particular case.’
The home secretary was then asked if she was still sure the new policy is safe and if she would tear it up if a similar tragedy occurs again.
She responded: ‘That might be 2018, we’re looking at 2023 and beyond. The High Court – senior, expert judges – have looked into the detail of our arrangements with Rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful.
‘Rwanda, from which I’ve just returned, takes 100,000 refugees and resettles them. I met some of them in Rwanda on my recent visit, from countries in the region, they have nothing but gratitude and thanks for Rwanda for the resettlement scheme that [the country] has put on.
‘They have a track record of successfully resettling and integrating people who are refugees or asylum seekers.
‘Rwanda is a safe country, it is the right solution for us grappling with our small boats problem, and I believe it will strike the right balance of providing a humanitarian package of support for people who are refugees while at the same time being a deterrent to those seeking a life in the UK.’
The Home Office previously suggested deportation flights could start this summer, though the policy faces court challenges which could force ministers to water it down.
Many of the Congolese refugees killed in 2018 were still living in camps despite having arrived in Rwanda in the 1990s.
Dozens more were arrested in the following months and more than half of those were jailed for between 3 months and 15 years, according to Human Rights Watch.
In a report on the killings, Rwanda’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), which is closely linked to the government, said police ‘had used all peaceful and less harmful means to contain the situation’.