Rwanda is branding an Afghan Colonel ( also Dr.) , his wife (also a Dr.) and family as the picture perfect family for the refugee ” polite deportation” deal struck between her self and the UK.

This latest media campaign is done in a bid to silence the voices raised against the UK-Rwanda obscure immigration deal and to convince those still resisting their “deportation” . All refugees arriving from the UK will not be receive the VIP treatment given to the Col and his Dr. Spouse. Most will be victims of extortion on arrival, whatever monetary package they will be sent off from the UK with will be taken by any means necessary if there is no set system to track it . Rwanda has certainly made great progress since the 1994 genocide but poverty is still an omnipresent reality for the many. Our success story is an autocratic subsidy determined to fake it till it makes it.

This UK- Rwanda deal is a business venture; and while we can only be happy that the ordinary Rwandan will profit from the crumbs that will fall of the high tables , it is terribly misleading to present Rwanda as some sort of el dorado for new beginners. It is not a country of equal opportunity (YET!). It is a country with a ruling party hoagin on a narrative that favours its governors, its cronies and every now and again, its sycophants.

Rangira Albert

Photo source : newtimes.co.rw

Photo: Col. Dr. Nesar Ahmed Hamraz & Family.