Denmark expressed concern about the human rights situation in Rwanda before the initiated asylum talks
In the UN, Denmark expressed concern about the human rights situation in Rwanda last year, months before they began talks with the country about establishing an asylum reception center there.
It was in a virtual UN meeting in January 2021 that the Danes’ UN ambassador Morten Jespersen spoke in connection with the UN’s periodic land consultation (UPR) for Rwanda, writes Jyllands-Posten.
– We are still concerned about the accusations of arbitrary arrests and torture, as well as ill-treatment in prison camps and military installations, Jespersen said, according to the newspaper, which has received video from the meeting from UN teams.
Denmark’s concern came on the basis of a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In it, accusations were made that prisoners were tortured to confess in “prison-like facilities”. Rwanda has denied the allegations.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s government will send asylum seekers to the reception in Rwanda, as the British government has recently decided to do. The plans have been met with massive criticism.
Denmark’s recent Minister of Immigration and Immigration Kaare Dybvad writes in a reply to the newspaper that it does not help any refugees to point fingers and not to cooperate with Rwanda.
He maintains that an agreement on asylum reception in Rwanda will improve the current asylum system, which he says is unfair and “full of human tragedies”.
Furthermore, it is stated that it is a prerequisite for an agreement with Rwanda that all international obligations are complied with.