Dissidents reject UK claim that Rwanda is safe

Rwandan dissidents living in the UK who have received police warnings over assassination attempts from the African country's agents have spoken of their shock and dismay at Rishi Sunak's insistence that it is a safe country.

- Rajeev Syal

President Paul Kagame's former bodyguard and a key political opponent are among at least eight people who have been told by special branch or the security services that their lives face "imminent threats" from the government in Kigali.

Their comments come after the prime minister's Rwanda bill passed the initial hurdle with a majority of 44 last week, opening the way for people seeking asylum in the UK to be deported without any right of return.

Kagame's government has been accused of being behind dozens of extraterritorial killings and kidnappings since rising to power in 2000.

Sunak has repeated the bill's claim that Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers, contradicting the November ruling of the supreme court. "We have acted quickly to remedy the issues raised by the supreme court, proving that Rwanda is not just a safe country, but a modern, prosperous nation," Sunak said on 6 December.

Jonathan Musonera, a political opponent of Kagame, lives in Greater London with his family under strict security measures after receiving a Metropolitan police warning of an assassination attempt. He said Sunak's claim that Rwanda is safe was "unbelievable".

He added: "To hear that the UK now thinks Rwanda is safe makes me nervous about my situation and that of my family. I am more exposed now.