Rwanda and Uganda deny deal to take African migrants from Israel

Last month, senior Israeli officials said that Israel would pay $5,000 for every African asylum seeker to be deported to Rwanda and $3,000 to every individual who agreed to leave voluntarily

Eritrean migrants protest for their rights in Tel Aviv, Israel on 11 July 2011 [Physicians for Human Rights/Flickr]

Rwanda and Uganda have denied claims of an agreement with Israel to receive African migrants that the Zionist state plans to deport, Arabs48.com reported on Friday. “Rwanda has no deal whatsoever with Israel to host any African migrant from that country,” insisted the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe on Twitter. “This story is no news. It is fake news.”

In a previous report for Israel Hayoum, both Rwanda and Uganda had been mentioned as “third countries” which had agreed to receive African asylum seekers for possible economic and military gains. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Rwandan leader Paul Kagame in Nairobi last month, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported, and the two are said to have talked extensively about such a deal.

Last month, senior Israeli officials said that Israel would pay $5,000 for every African asylum seeker to be deported to Rwanda and $3,000 to every individual who agreed to leave voluntarily. Israeli Channel 2 TV claimed further that Kagame had agreed to accept more asylum seekers from Israel as his country needs workers but, in return, he asked for financial aid from Israel to facilitate the absorption of the migrants.

Opinion: Is Israel’s right wing waging a war against Africans?

On Wednesday, Israel launched a programme to force some 38,000 migrants, mainly Eritreans and Sudanese, to leave the country. According to Haaretz, informed sources said that an “extremist” scenario is being prepared in Israel in this regard, noting that migrants would be removed against their will. The sources also pointed out that Rwanda is unwilling to cooperate with this Israeli plan.

On Thursday, the Israeli migration authority told the government that it does not have the power to deport African asylum seekers. Such a plan, added the sources who spoke to Haaretz, needs complicated logistical services, an agreement with several parties, a lot of financial investment and the training of a large number of personnel to carry out the plan.

Read: Israel tells African asylum seekers: leave or face prison

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