Priti Patel warns that 65,000 people could cross the Channel in small boats this year

Priti Patel has warned that up to 65,000 people could cross the Channel in small boats this year – almost double last year’s record –  as she seeks to see off external and internal criticism of plans to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda.

She revealed the estimate as Boris Johnson pledged that the first flights taking those illegally arriving in Britain 4,000 miles to east Africa would take off within weeks.  

The Prime Minister pledged to do ‘whatever it takes’ to push through his landmark scheme to tackle the small-boats crisis in the Channel and smash people trafficking gangs. Some 28,000 people made the perilous journey in 2021.

Revealing details of the dramatic strategy, Mr Johnson said ‘tens of thousands’ of Channel migrants would be sent with a one-way ticket.

The Daily Mail understands the first flight is expected to leave before the end of next month – and a minister today confirmed anyone who has arrived in Britain this year could be sent.

But critics of the plan continue to attack it over the sheer cost –  estimated at up to £30,000 per person –  and Rwanda’s human rights record.  

ITV reported that Home Office civil servants have asked for a ministerial direction from Ms Patel over the scheme – meaning they have concerns over the plan.

Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove told Sky News that it was important to stop people ‘putting their lives in the hands of these evil criminal gangs’ who run the cross-channel boats, often charging thousands of pounds per person.

‘The point I would make is that we are determined to get on and deliver this policy as quickly as possible without needless delay,’ he said.

‘We are now getting into the stage where we implement this policy quickly and anyone who has arrived in the United Kingdom from January 1 is in scope to be relocated to Rwanda if they’ve arrived through illegal means.

‘That is an important point to get across.

‘If you’ve arrived since then, it could well be that you are transferred as part of this arrangement.’

But Conservative former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell said the plan to send migrants to Rwanda was ‘immoral’ and involved ‘eye-watering’ costs.

The former international development secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he recognised that ministers were attempting to tackle ‘what is a terrible problem’ after 28,000 people came to the UK ‘illicitly’ in 2021.

Mr Mitchell said: ‘The Government is quite rightly trying to break the smugglers’ sordid and deathly model, and so I am absolutely behind them in doing that.

‘The problem with the scheme that they have announced is that I don’t think it will work.

‘It is impractical, it is being condemned by churches and civil society, it is immoral and, above all for conservative advocates, it is incredible expensive.

‘The costs are eye-watering. You’re going to send people 6,000 miles into central Africa – it looked when it was discussed in Parliament before that it would actually be cheaper to put each asylum seeker in the Ritz hotel in London.’

Ministers are braced for a fierce legal fight to stop opponents from scuppering the scheme before it starts. Mr Johnson accepted that the plan would be ‘challenged in the courts’, but insisted he was confident about its legality. 

It came as:

• Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the historic £120 million deal with Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali; 
• Mr Johnson insisted Rwanda was one of the safest countries in the world; 
• It emerged the first migrants to be sent from Britain will be put up in a former tourist hostel with scenic views over the city;
• The scheme – including Home Office charter flights to Rwanda – is likely to cost between £20,000 and £30,000 a head;
• The naval operation in the Channel was given a mission to make sure ‘no boat makes it to the UK undetected’;
• The PM said it was his aim to bring the numbers arriving in the country illegally ‘down to zero’, but admitted that was unlikely ‘any time soon’;
• Labour accused the Prime Minister of trying to distract voters from the Partygate scandal with the ‘unworkable, unethical and extortionate’ scheme;
• Hundreds of asylum seekers risked their lives to cross the Channel yesterday – illustrating the problem faced by officials;
• Residents of the North Yorkshire village of Linton-on-Ouse – where one of several migrant reception centres will be built – expressed unease at the plan.

The government wants tens of thousands of people moved within the next few years, but some experts are warning of a surge of Channel crossings before the policy comes into effect, the Times reports.

MP Simon Hoare told the paper: ‘All this will do is mean we’ll see a vast amount of people trying [to cross] now before this comes in’. 

People smugglers would be encouraging people to cross with a ‘must end soon’ sale, he added.

The Royal Navy was drafted in yesterday to take charge of operations in the Channel as part of the sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration.

Last night, there were howls of protest from opposition party politicians, human rights bodies and campaign groups, who branded the measures as ‘evil’, ‘cruel’ and ‘unethical’. 

More than 160 British organisations – including Liberty, Stonewall and Greenpeace – all signed an open letter to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary in protest at the deal.

There have also been concerns over the cost of the scheme, with the price of each migrant sent to Rwanda to the taxpayer estimated to be between £20,000 and £30,000.  

This total figure will cover accommodation before departure, a seat on a chartered plane and their first three months of accommodation in Rwanda, the Times reports.

In a major speech in Kent yesterday, Mr Johnson accepted the Rwandan deal was not a ‘magic bullet’ that will solve the small-boats crisis.

But he said it would ‘save countless lives’ by breaking the business model of the ‘vile people smugglers’ who risk turning the Channel into a ‘watery graveyard’.

Officials expect thousands who entered the country by illegal means will be removed to Rwanda in the coming years.

Mr Johnson said arrangements with the African country will be ‘uncapped’, and it had the ‘capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead’.

He said the partnership will be ‘fully compliant with our international legal obligations’, but acknowledged the Government was braced for court challenges.

‘If this country is seen as a soft touch for illegal migration by some of our partners, it is precisely because we have such a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers who for years have made it their business to thwart removals and frustrate the Government,’ he said.

‘So I know that this system will not take effect overnight, but I promise that we will do whatever it takes to deliver this new approach, initially within the limits of the existing legal and constitutional frameworks, but also prepared to explore any and all further legal reforms which may be necessary.’

Miss Patel insisted she was confident she would be able to fend off moves to thwart the plans in the courts. Asked if she is preparing for legal challenges, the Home Secretary said: ‘We have to. Well, in the same way in which our political opponents just sort of opine a view, condemn everything that the Government does.

‘Number one, they don’t have a plan. Number two, they just vote everything down constantly. And as for the lawyers, they are fleecing the British taxpayer. A lot of this is legal aid money that goes into the merry go round of claim after claim after claim.’

Pushed on whether the scheme was reliant on legislation going through Parliament that critics have threatened to vote down, Miss Patel said: ‘No, no, it’s not. The whole principle of this agreement partnership that we have is not hinged on the Nationality and Borders Bill, let me be clear about that. In terms of domestic litigation, we have worked extensively… the level of detail (in the Memorandum of Understanding setting out the agreement) is forensic.’

The Law Society dismissed Mr Johnson’s criticism of lawyers. In a thinly veiled reference to Partygate, its president I. Stephanie Boyce said: ‘It is particularly disappointing – this week of all weeks – the Government is repeating misleading suggestions that legal challenges are politically motivated.

‘Legal challenges establish if the Government is abiding by its own laws. If the Government wishes to avoid losing court cases, it should act within the law of the land.’

British Red Cross executive director Zoe Abrams said it was ‘profoundly concerned’ about the proposal to ‘send traumatised people halfway round the world’.

The Refugee Council’s Enver Solomon urged the Government to ‘immediately rethink its plans’, and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the plan was ‘evil’. 

Inside tourist hotel in Rwanda that will host Channel migrants flown 4,000 miles from the UK for up to three months in Australia-style plan to send them to country in desperate need of young men

Plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda from the UK are anticipated to initially see people taken to a hostel in the capital city for processing.

Hope House, a hostel in Nyabugogo, the Gasabo district of Kigali, is currently being used as accommodation for tourists, according to Rwandan government officials.

Privately owned, the East African nation’s government is understood to be in negotiations to lease the property so asylum seekers sent from the UK can stay there temporarily while their claims are processed. It is understood this could take up to three months.

Home Secretary Priti Patel made a private visit to the site today to see an example of what accommodation may be on offer.

This is understood to be Ms Patel’s first visit to Rwanda since the deal was thrashed out, after being briefed by Home Office and Foreign Office officials who have been researching the plan.

The complex has 50 rooms at present and can accommodate around 100 people with up to two people per room and sharing communal bathrooms.

But there are plans to expand the facility by building more accommodation blocks, eventually seeing it offer 150 rooms and be able to sleep up to 300 people.

Asylum seekers are expected to be provided meals three times a day to eat in a communal dining room, with some kitchen facilities also available for those with special dietary requirements.

The government’s plan has already faced a massive backlash, with claims that it is both cruel and expensive.

Dr Peter William Walsh, Senior Researcher at the Migration Observatory in Oxford, said it would face ‘all kinds of logistical challenges’.

He told MailOnline: ‘Australia’s offshore experiment was beset by all kinds of problems, with people unable to access healthcare, as well as high rates of suicide and abuse. Then there’s the financial side to it. 

‘The Australian system was thought to be 800 times more expensive to house them offshore than in local centres. It cost one billion Australian dollars (£567m) to house fewer than 300 people.

‘There are so many questions about this plan and a lot of scepticism about whether it will actually come to pass given all the challenges it will face.’ 

Rwanda is best known in the west for a 1994 ethnic genocide that left up to 800,000 Tutsi people dead and it still has a mixed human rights records.

Amnesty International says there are still concerns over ‘enforced disappearances, allegations of torture and excessive use of force’.

Earlier this month the Refugee Minister Lord Harrington said there was ‘no possibility’ of migrants being sent there. But Boris Johnson today branded it ‘dynamic’ and one of the safest countries in the world. 

It is understood Channel migrants will be processed in the UK and officials will decide whether they are a genuine asylum seeker.

If they are deemed to be economic migrants, they will be sent to Rwanda, where schemes will be put in place to help them build a new life.

It is thought that in other cases, all asylum processing will take place after the claimant arrives in Rwanda. Britain will pay the costs of their resettlement. 

A source told the Telegraph that the British Army would be involved to prevent ‘battles on the quayside’, adding: ‘They will drive you to the airport and send you straight to Rwanda’.

The Refugee Council charity was among those to urge an immediate rethink of the plan, with chief executive Enver Solomon saying it would not work and would cost the taxpayer around £1.4billion a year as part of the while asylum system.

The United Nations refugee agency also expressed concern over the ‘shifting rather than the sharing of responsibilities’.

Labour and Mr Johnson’s Tory critics claimed it was an expensive move to switch attention away from the Partygate row which continues to embarrass No10. 

At a press conference today, Priti Patel said the agreement with Rwanda ‘fully complies with all international and national law’.

She said the deal is ‘in keeping with our vision for global Britain that harnesses the potential for new relationships, and stimulates investments and jobs in partner countries’.

Home Secretary added: ‘Working together, the United Kingdom and Rwanda will help make the immigration system fairer, ensure that people are safe and enjoy new opportunities to flourish.’

She said people who enter the UK ‘illegally will be considered for relocation’ to have their claims decided, adding: ‘Those who are resettled will be given the support, including up to five years of training with the help of integration, accommodation, healthcare, so that they can resettle and thrive.’

She added that the UK is making a ‘substantial investment in the economic development of Rwanda’ which aims to develop the country’s economy and support its people. 

‘This is very much, number one, a partnership,’ she said. ‘Clearly we engage in dialogue and we have been for over nine months now.

‘But Rwanda has a very unique history in terms of refugees and resettlement, resettlement in particular. First and foremost, Rwanda is a safe and secure country with the respect for the rule of law, and clearly a range of institutions that have evolved and developed over time.

‘If I may say so, Rwanda has been very forward leaning, and has been very dynamic in the conversations that we have had as well around, yes, economic growth and the partnership, but respect for people and giving them the ability to find new opportunities, but effectively restart their lives, rebuild careers, potentially, and settle here successfully.’ 

First look at UK’s first ‘Greek-style asylum centre’: Abandoned Yorkshire RAF base inspired by Greece which holds migrants in shipping-style containers and subjects them to checks on their movements and curfews

An abandoned RAF base in a tiny North Yorkshire village will soon be used to house asylum seekers for up to six months in shipping-style containers and subject them to checks on movements and curfews.  

The decision to use Linton-on-Ouse – population 1,200 – comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to unveil a new hardline immigration policy.

It will see asylum seekers flown 4,000 miles away to Rwanda to have their claims processed following a £120 million deal with the African country.

In the UK migrants will be held in ‘Greek-style reception centres’, the first of which will be built at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Channel migrants will have to stick to strict rules or else they could lose their right to asylum.  

Home Secretary Priti Patel is modelling the centre on Greek asylum camps where migrants undergo routine checks of their movements and have curfews.   

‘If they breach the rules, it could affect their asylum claim,’ said a UK government source to the Telegraph. 

‘You would be told that you would have to be in by this time. That’s fair rules for operating if you provide food and accommodation. The Greeks have things like timings.’  

It is understood local residents were not briefed or consulted on the plans, which came to light this week. 

The village has been left feeling ‘like a ghost town’ since the withdrawal of air force personnel over the last three years.

The RAF base has lain empty since 2020, when the Ministry of Defence announced it would no longer be actively using the site.

It was expected to be sold in the coming years, but the government has now revealed a new use for the 680-acre facility.

Accommodation for asylum seekers will be set up, while a processing centre will also be built.

Initially, it will house migrants who arrive in the UK on boats, although Thirsk and Malton’ Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake has also proposed that the site is also opened to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war with Russia.

In a statement, Mr Hollinrake said: ‘I have recently met with the Immigration Minister following the announcement the RAF site at Linton-on-Ouse will be used as an asylum seeker accommodation and processing centre. It forms part of increase in capacity measure to deliver more timely decisions.

‘I appreciate my constituents may have a number of questions about this site, but it is important to note these claims must be processed somewhere and in a humane and managed manner.

‘I want to assure constituents I will be working closely with the Home Office on this throughout.

‘It is crucial that those being processed are housed in suitable and appropriate settings, with recreation and social facilities to enable those individuals to live as normal a life as possible.

‘I have been assured the time limit for any asylum seekers to remain the site will be 180 days and I have ensured the Minister is clear this must be stuck to, to ensure those waiting for decisions are not unduly delayed.’

Mr Hollinrake added that he is in discussions with the government about how to minimise ‘disturbance’ to local residents in the small village.

It is anticipated that up to 300 jobs could be created on the RAF base, including ‘a number of new business opportunities in catering and other areas’.

Mr Hollinrake said: ‘There are a number of conditions I wanted to ensure were considered in advance of the site opening.

‘I have made it clear the local community must be at the heart of these plans, prioritising those in the area for any jobs which may be required at the site.’

‘I have spoken to other members of parliament who already have similar facilities in their areas. Initial concerns around disturbance to local communities has not been borne out in practice, so hopefully this will be the case here also.

‘I have also asked the Minister if he can consider opening the site up to Ukrainian refugees, given the heartwarming response from Thirsk and Malton constituents to the crisis.

‘I will keep constituents updated with any further developments.’

There are concerns about the new Rwandan immigration policy considering the country’s human rights record.

According to the campaign group Human Rights Watch, ‘arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture in official and unofficial detention facilities is commonplace, and fair trial standards are routinely flouted in many sensitive political cases, in which security-related charges are often used to prosecute prominent government critics. Arbitrary detention and mistreatment of street children, sex workers and petty vendors occurs widely.’

It comes as Boris Johnson ordered the Royal Navy to police the English Channel and stop small boats from today.   

The Prime Minister ordered warships to take over from the Border Force as the latest wave of arrivals from France were pictured landing in Kent.

Speaking just a few miles away he hailed the UK as a ‘beacon of openness’ before confirming an agreement with Rwanda to send boat people 4,000 miles to the east African nation – in many cases permanently.

In a speech this morning the Prime Minister invoked the spirit of Brexit as he unveiled the £120million scheme, saying: ‘The British people voted several times to control our borders.’

He said that while the UK’s compassion may be ‘endless’, its capacity to host people was not, adding: ‘We cannot expect the UK taxpayer to write a black cheque.’

Ministers have struck a ‘world-first’ deal with the government of Paul Kigame to host economic migrants. Home Secretary Priti Patel arrived in Rwandan capital Kigali last night and is due to sign a five-year agreement today.   

Officials believe the agreement to ‘off-shore’ the processing of asylum seekers will deter thousands of migrants from crossing the Channel in dinghies, saving lives and cutting off income from the criminal gangs that control the trade. 

But the plan has already faced a massive backlash, with claims that it is both cruel and expensive. Rwanda is best known in the west for a 1994 ethnic genocide that left up to 800,000 Tutsi people dead and it still has a mixed human rights records.

Amnesty International says there are still concerns over ‘enforced disappearances, allegations of torture and excessive use of force’. Earlier this month the Refugee Minister Lord Harrington said there was ‘no possibility’ of migrants being sent there.

But Mr Johnson today branded it ‘dynamic’ and one of the safest countries in the world. And answering questions in Kigali, Ms Patel said the country had an ‘established record of welcoming and integrating people’.

Speaking at a press conference she said the African country had ‘one of the strongest records for refugee resettlement’ and, in recent years, had resettled more than 130,000 refugees. 

It is understood Channel migrants will be processed in the UK and officials will decide whether they are a genuine asylum seeker. If they are deemed to be economic migrants, they will be sent to Rwanda, where schemes will be put in place to help them build a new life. 

It is thought that in other cases, all asylum processing will take place after the claimant arrives in Rwanda. Britain will pay the costs of their resettlement.

A source told the Telegraph that the British Army would be involved to prevent ‘battles on the quayside’, adding: ‘They will drive you to the airport and send you straight to Rwanda’.  

The Refugee Council charity was among those to urge an immediate rethink of the plan, with chief executive Enver Solomon saying it would not work and would cost the taxpayer around £1.4billion a year as part of the while asylum system.

The United Nations refugee agency also expressed concern over the ‘shifting rather than the sharing of responsibilities’. 

Labour and Mr Johnson’s Tory critics claimed it was an expensive move to switch attention away from the Partygate row which continues to embarrass No10. 

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, told the Guardian it was a ‘shameful announcement meant to distract from Boris Johnson’s recent law-breaking.

‘It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it harder, not easier, to get fast and fair asylum decisions,’ she said. 

Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell said housing asylum seekers at the Ritz hotel would be cheaper than offshoring, claiming the cost to the British taxpayer would be £2million per person, per year.  

Mr Johnson criticised the ‘rank unfairness’ of the current asylum system, which he claimed is being exploited by men entering via small boat crossings at the expense of women and children.

Speaking at Lydd Airport near Dungeness, the Prime Minister said: ‘Our compassion may be infinite but our capacity to help people is not. We can’t ask the British taxpayer to write a blank cheque to cover the costs of anyone who might want to come and live here.

‘Uncontrolled immigration creates unmanageable demands on our NHS and on our welfare state, it overstretches our local schools, our housing and public transport and creates unsustainable pressure to build on precious green spaces.

‘Nor is it fair on those who are seeking to come here legally if others can bypass the system. It’s a striking fact that around seven out of 10 of those arriving in small boats last year were men under 40 paying people smugglers to queue jump and taking up our capacity to help genuine women and child refugees.

‘This is particularly perverse as those attempting crossings are not directly fleeing imminent peril, as is the intended purpose of the asylum system. They pass through manifestly safe countries including many in Europe where they could and should claim asylum.

‘It’s this rank unfairness of a system that can be exploited by gangs which risks eroding public support for the whole concept of asylum.’ 

Priti to face down migrant backlash: She’s braced for legal challenge from human rights lawyers and Left over new Rwanda deal

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent in Kigali, Rwanda 

Ministers are determined to face down what is likely to be a fierce backlash over the plans to tackle the issue of cross-Channel migration. 

Sources said Home Secretary Priti Patel has been ‘working night and day’ for the last eight months on the agreement with Rwanda, announced tomorrow. 

It will see asylum seekers sent to the East African nation for processing or, in some cases, if they are ruled to be economic migrants rather than genuine refugees. 

In short, it is designed to have a deterrent effect, and to stop migrants from attempting to enter the UK in the first place.

The Rwanda deal comes after a number of other locations for offshore processing were said to be under consideration by the Home Office. 

Ghana and Albania were mooted, along with disused North Sea oil platforms and decommissioned ferries off the UK coast. Ascension Island, part of a UK overseas territory almost 4,500 miles away in the South Atlantic, was also suggested last month. 

Offshoring asylum seekers will be highly controversial, and even Tory backbenchers have questioned the expense. 

Last month Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell said housing asylum seekers at the Ritz hotel would be cheaper than offshoring, claiming the cost to the British taxpayer would be £2million per person, per year. 

Ministers are also braced for a legal challenge from human rights lawyers – as well as political opposition from Labour and the Left. 

Flows of migrants across the Channel have seemed an insoluble challenge since numbers began to rise four years ago. 

Last year a record 28,500 migrants reached British shores aboard dinghies and small boats, with trends appearing to rise yet further so far this year. Ministers will now attempt a different approach – with a complex international agreement that has taken two years to secure. 

In a speech tomorrow, Boris Johnson will defend the new plan, saying that the Government has to control illegal immigration. 

‘We cannot sustain a parallel illegal system. Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not,’ he will say. 

‘The British people voted several times to control our borders, not to close them, but to control them. 

‘So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country.’ 

The Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill will grant the Home Secretary new legal powers to process asylum seekers overseas. 

The Bill is yet to complete its final stages in Parliament, and earlier this year the House of Lords voted to remove the offshoring powers, only for them to be later re-instated by a Commons vote. 

Tonight, the initial reaction from charities suggested they would bitterly oppose the plans. 

Enver Solomon, of the Refugee Council, said: ‘We are appalled by the Government’s cruel and nasty decision to send those seeking sanctuary in our country to Rwanda. 

‘Offshoring the UK’s asylum system will do absolutely nothing to address the reasons why people take perilous journeys to find safety in the UK. 

‘It will do little to deter them from coming to this country, but only lead to more human suffering and chaos.’ 

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said the ‘shockingly ill-conceived idea will go far further in inflicting suffering while wasting huge amounts of public money’. 

Rwanda, with a population of 13million, needs more workers and has in recent years resettled more than 100,000 refugees. In a different approach, the European Union is developing a network of accommodation centre for asylum seekers on a number of Greek islands. 

The first £37million facility, on Samos, opened in September and can house 3,000 people in rows of container-style accommodation units. 

Elsewhere, Home Office officials have closely studied a similar scheme for offshore processing which is being set up by Denmark. 

Danish parliamentarians have approved a change to their law which would allow asylum applications to be considered in a third country. Last year there were reports that it was looking at signing an agreement with the Rwandan government.

Luxury life of ‘despot’ blamed for rights abuses

By Tom Witherow for the Daily Mail

The president of Rwanda has won plaudits from former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron despite being branded a ‘despot’ and blamed for human rights abuses. 

Paul Kagame, 64, has sold Rwanda as a success story in the developing world over three decades. 

He has courted foreign leaders and royalty – including a 2020 meeting with Prince William at Buckingham Palace – to win praise as a dynamic and progressive president. 

His government has also spent millions of pounds brushing up Rwanda’s image by sponsoring Premier League team Arsenal. 

But critics claim he is guilty of murderous authoritarianism which has enabled him to remain in power for 28 years.

He led the militia groups who ended the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which saw more than 500,000 people massacred. 

Then US President Bill Clinton said Kagame was ‘one of the greatest leaders of our time’, Lord Blair called him a ‘visionary’, and Mr Cameron said his regime was a ‘role model for development’. 

But in recent years negative stories have over-shadowed his country’s economic success. 

Last December, Paul Rusesabagina – the inspiration for the hero character in Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda – was sentenced to 25 years in prison for allegedly founding a terrorist group. 

His family branded it a show trial. The former hotel boss-turned-opposition leader had been praised for shielding thousands of potential genocide victims in 1994. 

But he criticised Rwanda’s human rights abuses after Kagame came to power. 

Kagame’s intelligence services have also been suspected of killing critics abroad, but none of the allegations has been proven. 

When arch-critic Colonel Patrick Karegeya was murdered in a hotel in South Africa in 2014, Kagame said: ‘When you choose to live like a dog, you die like a dog.’ 

A recent book claimed the Metropolitan Police provided protection for Rwandan opposition figures threatened in London. 

Kagame is known for his luxurious lifestyle and travels in a £50million executive jet and an armour-plated Range Rover worth an estimated £300,000. 

His son Ivan sits on the board of Rwanda’s investment agency and lives in a £5million Beverly Hills mansion.

Source: Daily Mail