Zemen Fesaha, 26, from Eritrea, arrived at the huge complex of accommodation and leisure facilities in July. The refugee camp, an hour and a half drive from the Rwandan capital, Kigali, houses 249 men, 125 women and 83 children, who have been removed from miserable detention centers in Libya. It is run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Government of Rwanda and the African Union and provides short-term accommodation to those awaiting resettlement. Fesacha said he left Eritrea in 2017 hoping to reach the United Kingdom. “There is no freedom in Eritrea. “There is a national service and I do not want to become a soldier,” he said. “I wanted to cross the Mediterranean through Libya to reach the United Kingdom. I had friends who crossed illegally. In July 2019 I tried to board a boat with 350 people but the boat was intercepted and I was taken back to Libya. It was very scary. Being stuck in a detention center in Libya is like a prison. It is guarded by soldiers. “ Fesah’s story, repeated by others, gives some credence to the idea that the government’s plan for Rwanda works as a deterrent to some returning to Britain. He said he was happy at the Rwandan camp, which has a health center, a playground, a gym, a football pitch, a basketball court and billiards. “The camp is good, you can walk freely and I can go out and relax,” said Feshaha, who now dreams of settling in Canada. “I do not want to go to the UK now because I may be deported. I have heard that asylum seekers are being deported in the United Kingdom. I do not know much about the program, but I would be very scared to go there now if I was deported. “After going through all the difficulties in Libya, I do not want it.” Rawnaq Gomaa with her children (from left), Amar, Dan and Ahmed. Photo: Emine Sinmaz / The Guardian As British reporters arrived for a tour of the site, a woman sang Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You as part of a music therapy class. The refugees have access to TVs and wifi and three meals a day are offered in the canteen, which serves dishes such as chicken stew, spaghetti bolognese and chips. They are also given a monthly allowance of 50,000 Rwandan francs (£ 40). A mother of three who escaped persecution in Sudan condemned the plot. Rawnaq Gomaa, 30, fled to Libya last year with her three young children after the disappearance of her husband. He paid a smuggler 5,000 Libyan dinars (6 856) to cross the Mediterranean in a small boat to give his Amar children, seven, Ahmed, four, and Dan, 19, a better future in the UK. Fighting tears, Gomaa said her husband “disappeared” in Sudan. He did not give further details, but added: “I wanted to leave Sudan because it is dangerous and there is a lack of security. My goal from the beginning was to get to the United Kingdom. I decided to get on a boat from Libya to go to Europe. But the naval police brought us back to Libya. “It’s scary that we thought we were going to be killed in Libya.” She said Libya’s detention center was “like a prison” and that she was separated from her children. It was evacuated to Rwanda a few months ago, describing it as “a beautiful country”. “I can not say that there is anything wrong with Rwanda. “But I want to relocate elsewhere for the future of my children, whether in Canada or Australia or maybe the United Kingdom.” But shaking her head, she added: “I do not accept this agreement between Rwanda and the United Kingdom. People who arrived in the UK went through many bad things, for example torture, and life-threatening things. “And when they are in a safe place, they are transported back to Africa.” Of the 1,075 people evacuated from Libya since 2019, none chose to stay in Rwanda or choose to return voluntarily to Eritrea, Sudan, Chad and Somalia. However, 629 have been resettled in France, Sweden and other European countries or Canada. There have been speculations that migrants sent from the UK could end up in the camp, but the Rwandan government says this is not the case. But people in Gashora could be resettled in the UK if they qualify. Entsar Tsagai, 31, and Sundus’s 18-month-old daughter, and Meseret Girmy, 24, and Amin’s three-month-old son, hope to move to a country that is “peaceful and safe” after leaving Eritrea. Girmy said: “Rwanda is much better than Libya, but Europe will be much better for my baby. “I just want a place that is quiet.”
