The surge of refugees in Africa has forced neighboring countries to conflict zones to open their borders to people fleeing these red zones in search of a better and safer home. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Africa has about 30 million internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum-seekers. These numbers represent almost one-third of the world’s refugee population, which is supposed to ring the emergency bells in the ears of those in governance.

As every other nation sharing borders with conflict-ravaged nations, Rwanda, in 2017, opened its borders to refugees fleeing conflict zones and seeking haven in the country. The country under President Paul Kagame, also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Union, and UNHCR on 10 September 2019, to set up an Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) to secure evacuating refugees and asylum seekers due to the deteriorating security setting in Libya. Currently, Rwanda plays home to over 135 thousand refugees.

This is why the accusation by the UNHCR on the neglect by the Rwandan government on refugees comes as a shocker. According to the UN agency, in a British court, deporting migrants and refugees to Rwanda would be a mistake as these refugees are at risk of their lives. The agency accused the government of Paul Kagame of conveying refugees and deported migrants to states where they risked torture or death.

The government of Rwanda in turn has denied this accusation by the UN agency, saying that the agency presented false information and “unserious allegations” against the African nation. According to a statement released by the government of Rwanda, “The organization seems intent on presenting fabricated allegations to UK courts about Rwanda’s treatment of asylum seekers, while still partnering with us to bring African migrants from Libya to safety in Rwanda.”

Both parties, UNHCR and the Rwandan government, have opposed each other’s opinion on the issue, at a crucial time where the British government, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, plan to deport refugees to Rwanda. The plan by the British government has been a hot political issue and has caused a month of deadlock of deliberation between the upper and lower British  parliament on the course to take.

The One party has presented the civil and human rights abuses accusations against the government of Rwanda as the basis of refusing to authorize the deportation of these migrants to Rwanda and the others have sited the need to deport these migrants who came into the country in their tens of thousands illegally mostly from war torn regions.

The UNHCR in a statement said,” …finds that the UK-Rwanda Asylum partnership shifts responsibility for making asylum decisions and for protecting refugees,” but the Rwandan government in its defense said that the case being raised by the UN agency is the case with every other country ensuring that every migrant obtains legal status and meets the entry requirements of the country.

This versus between Rwanda and the UN agency transcends Rwanda, but the whole Africa. This case serves as a reminder for the urgent need to answer the primary question as to why these refugees flee Africa; the incessant conflicts in the continent. The issue throws more light on the need to address the various conflicts plaguing African regions. There would be no need for Africans to migrate to other continents in search of a better life if their need for a good life was met by their native governments.

This is a wake-up call to African leaders, governments and international organisations of which the UNHCR is one of. Politics needs to be removed from the chess board and humanity embraced to reduce conflicts and wars in Africa. A wholesome approach by these stakeholders should be engaged to prevent Africans from risking their lives in the search of a better life but rather channeled towards building better nations.