‘Rwanda's Role in Global North External Migration Management Partnerships: Lessons for Refugee-Deporting and Third-Party Refugee-Receiving States’

The central research question guiding this thesis is: ‘How do Rwanda’s domestic, regional, and geopolitical policy interests explain its involvement in external migration governance arrangements initiated by countries in the Global North?’ This question follows from Rwanda’s involvement between 2014 and 2024 in (realised and proposed) external migration partnerships with Israel, Denmark and the United Kingdom. To answer this question and its supporting sub-questions, the study applies perspectives from postcolonialism studies, history, international relations, public administration, and refugee and migration studies, including migration diplomacy. This thesis argues that Rwanda is not a mere recipient of Global North migration policies. It asserts that Rwanda has been actively leveraging global migration governance partnerships to serve its political interests and achieve domestic, regional, and international objectives, which often have little to do with the rights, interests, or aspirations of (refugee) migrants. These policy aims can be summarised as a focused effort to care for itself and its population by every means necessary. By voluntarily acting as a third-party refugee-receiving country for people-in-migration who are unwelcome in Global North states, Rwanda perpetuates the racialised practices of European colonialism. This is evident in Rwandan narratives concerning the (alleged) migration crisis in Europe since 2015, migrants’ rights and aspirations, the role of smugglers, and Global North migration deterrent measures, all of which resemble rhetoric prevalent in Global North countries. As a postcolonial migration state willing to accept refugees under Global North migration externalisation regimes, Rwanda shows little interest in the motivations of past and potentially relocated migrants. In contrast, asylum refugees are treated as pawns in an approach to migration that complements, supports and reinforces Europe’s migration defence systems. This thesis points to the need for a deepened academic and societal analysis of Rwanda’s migration policy. Understanding the motivations of refugee-receiving third countries is crucial for fostering informed international cooperation, ensuring a fair share of responsibility and equitably sharing the burdens and costs associated with the reception and protection of people on the move, in line with both the letter and the spirit of the UN Refugee Convention.