Human rights groups criticize U.K. plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
(Image credit: Matt Dunham - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The United Kingdom announced Thursday that it plans to send some asylum seekers thousands of miles away to Rwanda, a move human rights organizations say violates international agreements on refugees.

Under the plan, migrants would have the option of staying in Rwanda, going back home, or seeking resettlement in a country other than Britain, The New York Times reports. Britain will give Rwanda 120 million pounds (roughly $157 million) to cover schooling, vocational and skills training, and language lessons.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.