Lying to get Australian asylum: The case of Noel Zihabamwe and family

For decades, the issue of Africans leaving the continent to seek asylum in Western countries has remained at the centre of discussion. Some have fallen victim to unscrupulous human traffickers who they pay heavily without hope of ever reaching their destination.

But others, especially those with no valid reason for seeking asylum, have taken to deceit. They tell lies in order to win sympathy from their hosts and thereby fast-track their immigration process. In their lies, the most common token is political persecution. With the latter, you do not even need to show proof.

The name Noel Zihabamwe is becoming common in media circles not for any credible reasons but for the many fabrications against his country, Rwanda.

Zihabamwe milked these fabrications to secure asylum for himself and his family members in Australia. How long he will continue peddling lies and how far he intends to go is a question for another day. What has prompted this piece, is the art of getting through the asylum seeking process with such easily verifiable fabrications. 

 Zihabamwe, born Yandamutso as is known by relatives, friends and former neighbors in Rwanda, spends his days peddling lies about, among others, his family assets which he claims were seized by the state. This is a daring move for which he will be exposed any time soon, but he chooses to die another day.

Inspite of the lies, Zihabamwe’s relatives crossed to Uganda, after leasing all their land and selling out some of their houses, which he so callously claims were seized by the government. 

Verifiable information points to the fact that his relatives currently live in Uganda after they either sold or put on lease all their property while they prepare for their relocation to Australia, courtesy of Zihabamwe.

For the process to be smooth and hustle free, Zihabamwe reached out to organizations like Human Rights Watch - known for its biased reports on Rwanda - with his cooked stories so that they publish reports that validate his preposterous claims.

John Zihabamwe, a brother to Noel Zihabamwe is on record to have left his piece of land to one Jean Claude Hakizimana on a 10-year lease to which he himself appended a signature before he left for Uganda. He bid farewell to his neighbors, telling them he was joining his relatives in Europe.

The same applies to Noel’s sister, Marie Assoumpta, who sold her house to Nsabimana Ignace. In 2019, Marie Assoumpta sold her small house, telling the buyer she was preparing to join her relatives in Europe.

Ironically, In Rwanda, “iburayi” which means Europe is often used to mean abroad. Whether you are travelling to America, Asia or Europe it will still be referred to as “Iburayi” to mean abroad.

After selling her house to Nsabimana, the two went to the land officer for the land transfer of ownership documents that can also be accessed online from the centralized land center website. Later on, the buyer met with Assoumpta when the latter came to bid him farewell, telling him that they were relocating to Europe.

Ignace also confirms that there exists some remaining property that belong to Noel’s family, managed by a gentleman called Roger. The title deeds of their remaining land assets are kept by their uncle’s wife who lives in Munazi, in Gisagara District. 

As Noel travelled to Australia, he joined his elder sister Brigitte who first relocated to the country before them. 

While it is their full right to relocate to wherever they want on earth, it is not right to fabricate lies against their country all in the name of expediting their asylum process.

It is now common practice for asylum seekers who, like Noel and family, spend most of their time peddling lies about being persecuted by their government, to quickly be granted asylum. 

The countries they head to make no effort to check their lies. If they did, many asylum seekers would be turned back because their claims, or lies, would not even take a day to authenticate.

Why would the Rwandan government want to confiscate Noel’s or his family’s modest assets? Why are some of these assets still registered under their names? The sale agreement of Noel’s sister’s house and the lease contract of his brother’s land are accessible and can be verified.

How can someone sell his asset, have a verifiable sell agreement and later on claim that his assets were confiscated by the government? What would be the motive? 

 If Western countries really wanted to deal with the influx of asylum seekers from Africa, they would invest time in verifying the lies fronted by the asylum seekers.