Rwanda’s record on LGBTIQ rights has been criticised. The revelation comes as LGBTIQ and migrant rights activists have expressed concerns about the Government’s plan to send people seeking asylum in the UK who travel via ‘irregular’ routes to Rwanda, where they will be able to claim asylum. The data provided covered refusals between 1 February 2017 and 31 December 2020, and returns between 1 February 2017 and 30 June 2021.
A total of 25 men seeking asylum in the UK from Afghanistan on the grounds of sexuality had their claims refused after the Home Office updated its guidance in 2017 to say it was safe for LGBTIQ people to live in the country if they did not “seek to cause public outrage”.Ī Freedom of Information request by the Byline Intelligence Team found that, while 25 people were refused asylum, none had been subsequently deported.
