The Danish government announced the opening of a project office in Kigali (Rwanda’s capital), as part of the Nordic country’s plan to set up an asylum centre in the East African nation: expected to strengthen bilateral relations, the project office will work in line with the two cooperation agreements reached between the two countries last year, one on asylum and migration issues and the other on political dialogue and cooperation. The “outsourcing of migrants” was an initiative of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen passed into law by Parliament in June 2021: the law provides for migrants to be flown out to partner countries while their asylum applications are being examined. The plan is mired in controversy at home and abroad, with critics arguing that it violates the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and EU law: Denmark, however, is not bound by EU law in this instance because of a series of special opt-out clauses that apply to its membership.
