‘Human beings have overrun the World’
– Sir David Attenborough

Life on Planet Earth

Crafting public policy is often a tricky balancing act. On one hand the motivations for doing something are usually well-meaning, and have an understandable premise, at times backed by solid scientific data. On the other hand, it’s impossible to please everybody, so you might as well just get on with whatever you’re trying to do – assuming you’re not breaking any laws. And assuming you have a mandate from people who elected you into office.

And in a democracy, it is usually the case that after a while – the most vocal and loudest of the voices around a certain issue, or the most enduring, are the ones who triumph in the end.

So, you have to wonder why the whole Rwanda Asylum Seekers policy of the British Government has been handled so shoddily, and why it has been such a shambles.

If it were up to me this is how I would deal with the whole Rwanda Asylum debacle. But first a disclaimer.

I believe in good governance, in freedom, in true democracy, fairness and in equality. I believe in freedom of expression and self-determination, of people as individuals, and of countries. This article is in no way an endorsement of any group, leader, policy, party or stance. I am just writing down my thoughts, which is what I would probably do, if it were up to me, and if money was not an object:

1. Start with Data

What skills are migrants (or a sizeable portion of migrants) who are trying to come to the UK bringing with them? The next question would depend on the answers to the first question: Is it feasible to create businesses around such skills – if so, what type of businesses? Further, suppose it were possible to do just that, how do you create and enforce quality control? By now some keen-eyed readers should know where I’m heading with all this. The issue of controlling immigration has largely failed because of the way it has been approached. In addition to all the important considerations, it should have been approached like a business challenge, and not something that sounds like a pest control exercise.

2. Start building an idyllic location

Why do people visit Switzerland? Why do people go to the Bahamas? Why do we holiday in the South of France? Why do we like Sardinia? C’mon, let’s hear the answers? Those places are not perfect, but we love them. Why?

The British Government tried to roll out this whole thing the wrong way round. In my view, what they should have done was to ask the Rwandan government for permission for significant investment into Rwanda, the capital city Kigali and other towns, so that the country truly becomes an attractive destination with many opportunities and an indisputable thriving economy. It would have created jobs for both British & Rwandan companies, and both British & Rwandese people, but also for many of the migrants who are trying to get to Britain via illegal means. I’ve written on this issue many times: people want to come to Europe because of everything that is good about the place; because they can get decent paying jobs, because they can live in relative peace, because there are opportunities here, the key to stopping the boats is not building detention centers, barges that bring to mind concentration camps or all the other misguided measures that are being proposed. No, the key to stopping the boats is to create truly thriving economies elsewhere. It’s to reduce Global Inequality.

So, imagine if the British Government said to Rwanda that:

1. We want to build and establish 3 major hospitals, 2 in Rwanda and another in the DRC. We would like to build a hospital in Kigali, another in Nyagatare, and a third in Bukavu (just across the Border in the DRC) to help with healthcare service provision across East and Central Africa, and we’re willing to invest £198 million into those 3 hospital projects. Who will build them? Well, what about a consortium that includes a British contractor…?
2. Secondly, we would like to open a Technology park in collaboration with our US & EU partners, similar to Konza Technopolis in Kenya. Together with those partners, we are going to invest £89 million into that venture, and bring together industry partners and others to get involved in making it happen, so as to create opportunities for thousands of people. Further, we are bring together British Telecom, Virgin Mobile and O2 to partner with 2 other local providers and begin a local ISP and Mobile telephony provider for east Africa, and we want to start operations in Rwanda, followed by Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi, and we want it’s HQ to be in that Technology Park.
3. The Tourism sector around Lake Kivu appears untapped, so we would like to invest £50 million as a 50% loan and 50% grant into 2 hotels. The hotels will be a collaborative project between 2 UK based hotel Groups (e.g. Malmaison and Clermont Hotel Group, or equivalent) and 3 local Rwandan based hotel groups. The Project will be co-owned by all the partners.
4. Similarly, we would like to offer soft-loans of £50,000 each to 50 Tourism providers (Conservationists, Tour operators who have hotels, motels and other types of accommodation or facilities the area {excluding foreign operators who don’t own any local facilities}, and others in the area). This would be specifically around the Nyungwe Forest National Park, and the money would need to be used for conservation efforts, to upgrade facilities, for preserving habitats, and protecting wildlife. These would be loans to companies that can prove that they already have a presence and operate in the area. An audit would need to be undertaken (to ensure the money was spent on what it was supposed to be spent on) and the money would need to be paid back.
5. We want to help Rwanda’s local manufacturing scene. Therefore, we would like to invest £100 million into local factories that currently exist (and not just in Rwanda, but in Uganda, Zambia and Malawi too) and to build new factories that manufacture some of the imports these countries currently import from outside, so that local manufacturing efforts in Central & East Africa are strengthened, and their economies are supported in terms of job creation. Strategically such a move is important in terms of developing local skills that help job creation.
6. We want to build new schools, say 10 new Primary schools and 7 new High Schools. A collaborative project can be established with the Department of Education, and several UK schools to help provide materials and other required support. The schools would be handed over to Rwanda’s Education Ministry to manage. A discussions about something similar in re Universities could be had. I know for example that Nottingham University has a campus in Malaysia...so why can’t other Universities be assisted to do something similar in Rwanda and Malawi, for example?
7. Stadia, Cinemas, another International Airport and Shopping Malls – to attract both local and luxury brands.
8. ….fill in here what you think such an economy would also need
9. And finally, houses, and flats – lots of them! Imagine the number of jobs such an approach would create…?

3. Normalise the country, the Leader & the Regime

Traveling to Rwanda should have been made normal and stress free, as if one were going to Marrakesh. Or as if you were flying to Dublin for the weekend.

The experience and ease of making the journey has to be trouble free and feel as normal and painless as possible, if we are to even come remotely close to viewing Rwanda as just another country, and without negative connotations. Until there is a feeling that this place is normal and just like any other destination people including Brits sometimes go to, there is going to be opposition to measures like the current Rwanda Bill. And for good reason.

Once visiting Rwanda feels like a normal place, it will be easier for politicians to be able to come up with certain policies, even unpopular ones.

Here, please allow me to qualify this point. When it comes to regimes that are inflexible or are autocratic in one form or another, Saudi Arabia ranks high up that list. And yes, while no one is suggesting that the UK should send immigrants to Saudi Arabia, psychologically, Saudi Arabia has to an extent been normalised in our minds, despite its many human rights violations and despite not being democratic, and having some rules/ practices that are not very nice, to be honest. My point is, other than when there is an issue that directly relates to them, British people rarely complain about Saudi Arabia to the same extent that some of them are now complaining about Rwanda. I mean, even the Arsenal deal was criticized so much, you’d think they had done something so despicable like invading another country.

So, if Saudi Arabia is counted as a ‘friend’ of Britain (and the west in general), and a lot of trade is done with them, why not Paul Kagame and his somewhat less troublesome Rwanda? Don’t tell me it’s all to do with oil…

Anyway, following this line of thought, there should be a flight from not just Heathrow, but also Manchester Airport to Kigali, every single day. Or at least every other day. That should help normalise the place…

People pay $30,000 – $160,000 to go climb Mount Everest, so are you seriously telling me they wouldn’t pay ~$5,000 or thereabouts for a 2 weeks long trip to Rwanda, to do all the tourist things the country has to offer (many of which will by then have been revamped and upgraded thanks to some of the proposals in this article) ?

• Rwanda Travel Guide: What You Should Know About Visiting Rwanda (beingchristinajane.com)

4. Independent Cheerleaders

Sometimes, I feel public policy struggles because the people pushing it are unlikable and … miserable characters. I won’t mention any names, but some of the figures who have led the UK Home office haven’t been liked by even British nationals. So what are the chances that any policy they propose will catch on? Nil or next to nil.

But imagine if for example someone like Sir David Attenborough clarified the whole immigration debate in his kind, humane, soothing and generally likeable voice? Imagine if he (or someone equally gentle, soft and empathetic) was the face of a travel show (yes travel show) which, did not castigate or try to exploit the otherness of migrants, but instead took UK citizens to go to parts of Africa and experience a different lifestyle, and for them to take part in certain challenges…

How many people would dispute or fight against that kind of thing?

So imagine then, if that African country in where such travel took place included Rwanda, and the activities included everything from Snorkeling/ Scuba diving in Lake Kivu, Hiking, Visiting factories that are being built, Taking part in an international food and music festival(if it doesn’t exist – establish one) and trying out local cuisine, helping building houses, volunteering in a hospital or school for a week, or painting a newly built hospital/ school, etc.

• 10 Things to do in Rwanda

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