Daniel Stewart - Friday
The governments of Denmark and Rwanda announced Friday that they are studying the possibility of signing an agreement on sending to the African country asylum seekers arriving on Danish territory, a plan similar to the one announced a few months ago by London and Kigali, harshly criticized by many NGOs.
Archivo - La primera ministra de Dinamarca, Mette Frederiksen - Philip Reynaers/BELGA/dpa© Provided by News 360
The foreign ministries of the two countries have indicated in a joint communiqué their "commitment to strengthening bilateral dialogue and partnership in multiple areas", including climate, good governance and "refugee policy".
"Rwanda and Denmark are jointly exploring the establishment of a program through which spontaneous asylum seekers arriving in Denmark can be transferred to Rwanda for consideration of their applications and protection, as well as the option for them to settle in Rwanda," they said.
They stated that "any such agreement would be in line with the international obligations of both countries, including those relating to refugees and human rights", before stressing that the dialogue on this point "is ongoing".
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"The parties are committed to continue exploring the possibility of reaching a formal agreement," they said, while revealing that Denmark will open a project office in Kigali in 2022 with the presence of two diplomats.
"The current global asylum and migration system is dysfunctional and a new stance is needed. Asylum seekers and migrants with sufficient resources use human traffickers to move along migratory routes, while the most vulnerable refugees remain in their countries of origin," they argued.
In this regard, Denmark and Rwanda have stated that "irregular movements caused by human smugglers further affect the security situation of countries along the migratory routes and risk undermining public confidence in the international refugee protection system."
Therefore, both countries have argued that "there is a need to address the underlying causes of irregular migration in countries of origin and transit, including the huge imbalance in human capital opportunities between Europe and Africa," and have indicated that they will contact UN agencies to "facilitate an international dialogue" on this initiative.
The announcement comes in the wake of the announcement made in April by the UK Government, when the then British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, unveiled a "pioneering" project to deport migrants who have arrived illegally on British territory to Rwanda, where their asylum applications could be processed.
However, the first flight of deportations was scheduled for June, but a judicial appeal prevented it from being carried out, amid international criticism, rejected by the authorities of both countries, who defended the need to move forward with the plan.
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