The 42-year-old journalist told the Guardian that although he has been granted refugee status, he still fears he will be targeted by Rwandan government agents in the United Kingdom. The man, who lost several members of his family in the 1994 genocide, decided to become a journalist after leaving school in the capital Kigali because of concerns about government corruption. He worked for a newspaper criticizing President Kagame and his government and later closed down. He was accused of being an “enemy of the state” and was arrested while trying to flee across the border, blindfolded and tortured for four months. His tormentors, who electrocuted him, tried to get him to reveal the names of his government sources who worked for the government, but he refused. He eventually escaped to the United Kingdom, where he suffered a mental breakdown. He applied for asylum and after a long legal battle he was granted refugee status, with the Ministry of Interior accepting his report on what happened to him. The government’s plans to send unauthorized asylum seekers on a one-way ticket to Rwanda have been unequivocally condemned as inhumane and unenforceable. The prime minister on Thursday outlined proposals to hand over an initial 120 120m deposit to Kagame’s administration in the hope that it would receive “tens of thousands” of people. “I know so many Rwandans who have left the country,” he said. “Anyone who criticizes Kagame is not good for him. “Not many Rwandans come to the United Kingdom, but some escape to Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands or to other African countries such as Zambia and Mozambique.” “Rwanda is a good country for image, but not for freedom of speech. I’m really shocked that offshoring is happening in Rwanda. It’s like selling people. It is a real shame for a country like the United Kingdom to do that. “It’s like a business,” he said. “People will suffer there, but it will not stop the smuggling gangs. I believe that asylum seekers will be mistreated in Rwanda. I live outside London because the Rwandan embassy is in London and I do not want to be near them. “So many Rwandans who have left the country live in fear wherever they are.” He said he was afraid of what would happen to him if he was ever sent back to Rwanda. “Those who oppose Kagame end up in prison. “The Rwandan government is using torture and violence against its opponents.”
