British Prime Minister in Vienna

Refugees to Rwanda: is it inhumane?

Those who flee to the UK illegally are to be deported to Rwanda.

(Bild: Laurin Schmid/dpa Picture Alliance/picturedesk.com)

Chancellor Nehammer seeks advice from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose harsh treatment of refugees is controversial. The idea of flying illegal refugees to Rwanda has brought the African country into the focus of critics. They believe that the country is not a safe third country. The "Krone" took a look at whether the criticism is justified.

The plan had not even been decided yet when criticism was already being voiced: The "Rwanda Plan", i.e. the deportation of refugees who have illegally entered the UK to Rwanda for the processing of asylum procedures, will damage Britain's reputation - wrote the "Financial Times", for example: "The dubious scheme is inhumane and extremely costly. Especially as it must be assumed that this country is not a safe third country."

The images of the civil war in Rwanda from 1990 to 1994 and the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, in which radical Hutu murdered around 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu, are still vividly remembered.

A lot has happened since then. So it is worth taking a second look. The landlocked country in East Africa is now considered the "Pearl of Central Africa". And not just from the perspective of nature and safari lovers.