(25 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kigali, Rwanda - 24 April 2024
1. Wide of Hope Hostel
2. Pan of hotel grounds
3. Various of hotel attendant fixing a twin-bed room
4. Various of signage with Arabic translation
5. Shot of Muslim prayer room
6. Wide of sports facilities
7. Wide of restaurant
8. Various of indoor kitchen area
9. Various of cook in outdoor kitchen
10. Various of asylum-seekers processing room
STORYLINE:
Rwanda says it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled and controversial bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some of them to the East African country.
There is even a place ready and waiting for the migrants - a refurbished Hope Hostel in the vibrant upscale neighborhood of Kagugu, an area of the Rwandan capital of Kigali that is home to many expats and several international schools.
The hotel has never had a customer since opening its doors two years ago.
Previously, the hotel was known as the Association of Student Survivors of Genocide (AERG) hostel.
It was a safe haven to young people orphaned in the 1994 genocide, when up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
British tax-payers' money has been funding the maintenance of the facility through a 462.7 million US dollar agreement signed by the two countries in 2022.
Rwanda has acknowledged receipt of some of the funds.
In an attempt to deter people from making the risky journeys, the UK government struck a deal with Rwanda in April 2022 to send migrants who arrive in the UK as stowaways or in boats to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay.
The British Parliament finally passed legislation to send some migrants to Rwanda, clearing the runway for flights this summer under the government's controversial plan to stop migrants crossing the English Channel from France to the UK in small boats.
Human rights groups and other critics of the plan say it is unworkable and unethical to send migrants to a country 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres) away that they don’t want to live in.
No one has yet been sent to Rwanda, but British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the first flights will leave in July.
AP video shot by Allan Atulinga
===========================================================
Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: info@aparchive.com.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...