From Colombo to Kigali: How Sri Lankans Ended Up in Rwanda’s “Open Prison”

Colombo/Kigali, June 7, 2024 – It sounds like the plot of a thriller, but for four Sri Lankan Tamils it is bitter reality: a journey that began on a boat headed for Canada has ended in a cramped flat on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda – where they say life feels like an “open prison.”

According to BBC reporters who tracked them down, the group was first intercepted by the UK Navy in 2021 and shipped to Diego Garcia, the remote Indian Ocean military outpost. From there, they were quietly transferred to Rwanda for “urgent medical care” after suicide attempts in camp.

And that’s where the gossip begins.

Life in Kigali

The UK pays their rent, hands them about $50 a week, and bars them from working. “We don’t go outside. We’re always scared,” says 23-year-old Lakshani, who lives behind grey curtains and barred windows with her father. They say they’ve faced harassment, break-ins, even groping on the street. “People ask us for sex. They laugh. We run,” another migrant told reporters.

The Rwandan government insists its health system is up to the job. But the Tamils claim doctors shout at them and their trauma is getting worse, not better. “We are stateless prisoners of the British government without freedom,” reads one desperate message they sent to officials in London.

Political Firestorm

The timing could not be worse for London. With Westminster still at war over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda asylum plan, the case of four broken Sri Lankans already in Kigali is like petrol on the fire. “If this is how Britain treats refugees it is already responsible for, what hope for the next batch?” asked one lawyer.

The Bigger Picture

What makes this tale even juicier is the backdrop: the UK desperate to close its borders, Rwanda eager to prove itself a “safe haven,” and a handful of Tamil asylum seekers caught in the middle. South Block in Colombo whispers nervously – no one wants the word “Sri Lanka” associated with human rights failures and refugee scandals yet again.

Kigali Limbo 

But the gossip is that London is determined not to let Diego Garcia turn into a “backdoor” into Britain. Which means the four Tamils may be stuck in Kigali’s limbo until another country steps up.

Until then, they are Sri Lankans in Rwanda – unwanted by Colombo, unwelcomed by London, and uneasy in Kigali.