The British Government says it trusts Rwanda to treat the asylum seekers sent there humanely after the country was likened more to a detention camp than a sovereign state.
A former Rwandan ambassador to the US warned the British Government about the East African country as controversial immigration reforms edge closer to becoming law.
Theogene Rudasingwa, who was the country’s representative in the US from 1996 to 1999, has been in exile in America since 2004 after falling out with Rwandan president Paul Kagame.
“As a Rwandan with decades of political and diplomatic experience my view is that under the regime of President Kagame such trust is unfounded,” Dr Rudasingwa said.
“Notwithstanding Rwanda’s history, the world must be under no illusion as to the truth. Rwanda is hostage to the Kagame dictatorship and is more akin to a detention camp than a state where the people are sovereign.”
St George
Questions over whether England’s own patron saint would have been deported to Rwanda have been raised on St George’s Day, which is today (23rd April).
Saint George was born in Turkey to a Turkish father and Palestinian mother. He lived in the Middle East and suffered persecution at the hands of the Romans.
Young George joined the Roman army and quickly rose through the ranks, but was imprisoned, tortured and eventually killed, on April 23, 303AD, after he protested against the Roman Emperor’s campaign of oppression and persecution against Christian believers.
The image of George slaying a dragon, according to some, is actually symbolic of him defeating the evil forces, and remaining true to his faith.
Courage
According to Independent reports, the story of St George’s symbolic courage, compassion and acceptance of others travelled from the Middle East to English shores over the centuries and in the 14th century he was adopted as England’s patron saint.
Little do those who ignorantly use St George as an emblem to champion their racist views about who can call themselves “English” know that St George might not have passed their test.
Related: Why shaky Wakey could be the final nail in the coffin for Boris