When Western media talks about Rwanda it is rare that the story about the country is objective.

All this started when the RPF-led government came to power after stopping the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi when the whole world looked aside as over one million people were killed in 100 days.

There are several reasons I believe are behind this kind of bad press. The RPF-led government has not given in to Western dictates to do things as they wish. Rwanda's leadership does what benefits the country, and the people, regardless of the views held by foreign powers.

The country has progressed by her own efforts denying those powers the credit for the success.  Therefore, this means that Rwanda doing things her own way disregarding the “Western template” is considered bad manners and the “tiny country” has to be punched to tow the line.

It has also been observed that due to the corrupt nature of Western media, genocide suspects, genocide deniers and their foreign supporters use Western media platforms to trivialize and deny the genocide against the Tutsi.

Again, as a result of its history and transformational leadership, Rwanda does some of her things in a unique manner which crosses the path of foreign interests. The “poor tiny Africa country” must earn a beating for being a menace.

On September 26, one Brian Latham,  wrote in the bylinetimes.com an article titled, “ US Sanctions Rwanda Over Child Soldiers - As UK Sings President Kagame’s Praises,” which depicted falsehoods and exaggerated lack of security in the country.

The whole article was aimed at creating an impression that Rwanda is hell on earth, where UK asylum seekers are likely to be killed, and therefore, the UK-Rwanda asylum seekers project should be abandoned.

Such kind of bad press against Rwanda has been going on since the two countries agreed on a Migration and Economic Development Partnership in April 2022.

Profiteers in the smuggling of illegal migrants including charities, welfare NGOs and asylum seekers’ lawyers are known to be bribing the media to tarnish the image of Rwanda.

“Rwanda is a small country in a volatile part of the world… If MONUSCO leaves the DRC…the Congo War will inevitably spill into neighboring countries, notably Rwanda,” Brian Latham wrote.

Such a statement is meant to create fear with no credibility. It simply exposes the intent of the author to depict Rwanda as a war risk country or the ignorance of the dynamics of the crisis in eastern DRC.

MONUSCO has not prevented any spilling of war into Rwanda. With or without MONUSCO, the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) always safeguarded the territorial integrity of Rwanda, and the country is safe.

“There are already more than 120,000 refugees in Rwanda, and they are accommodated in grim, filthy conditions. Britain wants to send more. That’s going to throw up the ugliest of optics… The refugees in the camps have endured gang rapes, mutilation, and torture, but are kept under canvas with little running water and electricity… The asylum seekers Britain plans to send will go to hostels that the UK describes as comfortable.

Will they be comfortable when the Congo war inevitably seeps into Rwandan territory?” Brian Latham writes.

How can a journalist worth the name make such wild allegations which can easily be proved wrong?

Refugee camps in Rwanda are operated in partnership with the UNHCR and they abide by acceptable international standards. The claim of filth conditions is laughable and bizarre. Rwanda is known to observe the highest standards of cleanliness in the country, including in refugee camps. 

The claim of rape and torture of refugees simply shames the writer. He is malicious and is inventing narratives that are politically motivated. Rwanda currently hosts more than 130,000 refugees and asylum seekers, all handled in accordance with international law.

Apart from receiving thousands of refugees from neighboring countries like DRC and Burundi, Rwanda is home to asylum seekers who had been held in dangerous and life-threatening detention centres in Libya, and moved to safety in Rwanda.

In September 2021, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan,  the School of Leadership Afghanistan, the first and only girls boarding school in Afghanistan, rapidly relocated 250 staff and students to Rwanda and they resumed school in Kigali. Sounding drums of the Congo war reaching Rwanda only shows lack of understanding of the security situation in Rwanda and the Great Lakes.

The bad press on Rwanda by Western media will not deter Rwanda's commitment to humanitarian intervention in the face of the global migration crisis. Rwanda will continue to work with the UN, multilateral and bilateral partners, including the UK, to be part of the solution to global challenges including the illegal immigration crisis.