Botswana declines the UK’s offer of an asylum agreement

The United Kingdom has reportedly proposed sending asylum seekers to Botswana, according to the country’s authorities. But Gaborone turned down the offer.

The United Kingdom resorted to plans to send asylum seekers to Africa in an attempt to handle the rise in illegal immigration; some British politicians argue that this arrangement will be advantageous for the host countries.

The only nation in Africa to date to accept the UK’s recommendations is Rwanda.

The agreement is expected to begin in ten to twelve weeks, as stated by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

According to officials in Botswana, Sunak’s administration made an effort to offer the country in southern Africa a deal akin to the one reached with Rwanda.

The minister of foreign affairs of Botswana, Lemogang Kwape, told VOA that despite efforts by British officials, the country could not agree to “hosting people not knowing what the end game would be.”

The civil society organization-led Universal Periodic Review (UPR) NGO Working Group concurs with Gaborone’s assessment of the UK’s asylum request.

Kutlwano Relontle, the program manager for U “calls on the government of Botswana and other countries to distance themselves from this controversial UK program, which appears to be aimed at protecting only some of those who are fleeing their countries on the basis of fear of persecution, and not others.”

“We noted that in the case of the conflict in Ukraine, those seeking asylum were fast-tracked into the system, and citizens even encouraged to host them in their homes,” Relontle said.

According to British authorities, the number of people fleeing conflict, the consequences of climate change, and economic instability has increased recently, leading to a surge in the number of migrants crossing the channel in tiny boats.

45,774 migrants came in Britain on small boats in 2022, according to official figures. After the government clamped down on people traffickers and came to an agreement to send Albanians back to their homeland, the number fell to 29,437 last year.

According to UK economics and public policy academic Jonathan Portes, some worthy asylum seekers will be denied entry under the Rwandan agreement.

“The majority of the population does not want to send people, particularly people who would have a claim to refugee status, to Rwanda, but there is a general view that the small boats crisis needs to be resolved, [as] that it is very dangerous and unacceptable for people to be arriving in such numbers across the channel,” he told VOA.

The economics and policy specialist stated that, given the proposal’s harsh condemnation from the UN and other human rights organizations, he is not shocked that Botswana rejected the UK’s offer.

As per the arrangement, Rwanda will receive £220 million from Britain in exchange for hosting the deported asylum seekers. According to the National Audit Office (Nao), Sunak’s government has also committed to giving the nation an additional 150 million pounds over the following three years and £120 million after the first 300 asylum seekers have been resettled.