NEW YORK - At a time when Western nations are adopting increasingly tough stances against migrants, the tiny nation of Rwanda has opened its borders to refugees, striking deals with European countries like Britain and Denmark to house deported asylum seekers, reports The New York Times.
Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, has said his government is motivated by altruism and a moral responsibility to provide a solution to “a very complicated problem all over the world.”
But critics say the country is seeking to benefit financially and geopolitically from the arrangements, and is offering itself as a refuge to deflect attention from its problematic record on human rights.
The migration deals with the West are part of “Rwanda’s drive to launder its image abroad,” said Toni Haastrup, a professor of international politics at the University of Stirling in Britain.
