Former residents of a hostel in Rwanda forced out under a controversial deal to house asylum seekers flying from the UK say they have been left homeless and destitute as the property remains unused.
The men, all survivors of the Rwandan genocide, had lived at the Hope Hostel in Kigali for eight years. But they were told to leave two days after Priti Patel, Britain’s home secretary, signed off on a £120m deal to send refugees arriving in the UK on small boats to the African country oriental
Some former residents of the hotel were still students who say they lost their families in the genocide and have nowhere to go. The UK government has so far not sent a single asylum seeker to Rwanda.
A former resident of eight years said: “We don’t know what to do. Publicly, government officials say they will help us, but no additional help has arrived. We are very worried but we are suffering.
“It hurts me to see it [the hostel] it is still empty when we are homeless, on the street”.
He told the Guardian that the government gave him money, which lasted a month after he was asked to leave the hotel, but that he has not received any additional funds for the past three months. He says he has little work and has been sleeping at friends’ houses since then.
“I was one year old when the genocide happened and all our relatives died. I came to this hostel as a gesture of kindness to give me some hope. Now, I have nowhere to go,” he said.
A second former resident said he had since dropped out of education because he had no money for rent or food.
“We face many challenges including hunger and lack of shelter. Many families became fragile after the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is difficult to ask friends to accommodate any of us. The government says that we are already old people and we should find solutions, but how can you find solutions when you don’t have a job?”. he asked.
“If this problem is solved, we can thank God. We need help, but we are also risking our survival by telling the truth.”
The residents asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. The Rwandan government has been criticized by Amnesty International for suppressing freedom of expression.
The Hope Hostel in Kigali’s Kagugu neighborhood was built by Rwandan donors to house up to 190 survivors of the 1994 genocide when hundreds of thousands of people, mostly from the Tutsi minority, were killed during three months of mass murders
Formerly known as the Student Association of Genocide Survivors (AERG) hostel, residents said about 40 people, mostly men, were living there when Patel signed the agreement.
Boris Johnson promised that tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel and reached the UK through irregular means would be sent to Rwanda, but so far, none of them have been sent after legal challenges. The first judicial review of the policy, brought by asylum seekers, two charities and a union representing Border Force staff, will begin in September.
Patel visited the hostel in April, but genocide survivors living there were sent on a day trip to prevent them from disrupting his visit.
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His visit was carefully managed by both the Rwandan authorities and the Ministry of Interior to present the plan in the best possible way.
The Rwanda-UK deal, which was signed in April, has been widely condemned as inhumane, illegal, unworkable and prohibitive.
The UK government said it had paid £120 million to the Rwandan government to implement the plan, but will have to pay additional costs for housing, food and travel.
Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said that the level of occupancy at the hostel had been falling before the agreement was signed with the UK government and that government funds were still being offered to survivors of the genocide, including those who lived in the Hope Hostel.
“Former Hope Hostel residents who are not yet self-sufficient continue to receive rent and living allowance support, as well as capital to start small businesses, from both the association and the Genocide Survivors Fund.”
Audace Mudahemuka, the president of AERG, said the use of the hostel by genocide victims was already in the process of being liquidated before the government took it over for the agreement with the United Kingdom.
“Only a small fraction of the hostel beds were being used and the facilities were expensive to maintain. We were delighted when the government offered to lease the property as the funds we receive from this contract enable us to give support for thousands of genocide survivors,” he said.
The Ministry of the Interior was approached for comment.