International
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.