Europe's border watchdog says the number of migrants and asylum-seekers coming across the western Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year is likely to increase, after 2017 closed with more than twice the traffic of the previous year.
In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo women and children from Eritrea sing and pray to celebrate their arrival to Europe aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, Pozzallo, Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo aid workers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms wait to disembark the lifeless bodies of an Eritrean man and 2 babies from the organization's rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
In this Friday Jan. 19, 2018 photo Sub-Saharan refugees and migrants aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue ship look out to the sea as the vessel heads to the Italian port of Pozzallo, in Sicily. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
The head of the EU Frontex border agency, Fabrice Leggeri, announced Friday in Madrid that his agency would increase efforts this summer to help Spanish border surveillance. No extra funds have been allocated yet, but Frontex says it will consider diverting funds from operations in Greece or Italy if needed.
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Europe's border watchdog says the number of migrants and asylum-seekers coming across the western Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year is likely to increase, after 2017 closed with more than twice the traffic of the previous year.
In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo aid workers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms wait to disembark the lifeless bodies of an Eritrean man and 2 babies from the organization's rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
In this Friday Jan. 19, 2018 photo Sub-Saharan refugees and migrants aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue ship look out to the sea as the vessel heads to the Italian port of Pozzallo, in Sicily. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
The head of the EU Frontex border agency, Fabrice Leggeri, announced Friday in Madrid that his agency would increase efforts this summer to help Spanish border surveillance. No extra funds have been allocated yet, but Frontex says it will consider diverting funds from operations in Greece or Italy if needed.
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2017 file photo, migrants sit on the ground next to Spanish police officers after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron, File)
"The bad news is in the western Mediterranean," Leggeri told reporters, noting that the number of migrants crossing the central and eastern Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe was higher but was declining. "Spain deserves more solidarity from the European Union."
In this Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 photo Guillermo Cañardo, a doctor from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, assists an Eritrean child as the organization's rescue vessel heads to Italy with more than 500 refugees and migrants on board. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
Leggeri also said a system in place in Italy and Greece to register those arriving will also be implemented in Spain. The system makes it easier to identify migrants so they can be repatriated if they are denied residency in Europe. It also allows European law-enforcement authorities to compare criminal records with other countries' police agencies.
In this Friday Jan. 19, 2018 photo a child from Eritrea sings to celebrate his arrival to Europe aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, Pozzallo, Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
Leggeri said last year efforts to help Spain cost about 7 million euros ($8.6 million). Frontex said 22,880 migrants arrived in Spain last year by sea, up from 10,231 in 2016.
In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo aid workers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms help refugees and migrants to disembark from the rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2017 file photo, migrants sit on the ground next to Spanish police officers after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron, File)
"The bad news is in the western Mediterranean," Leggeri told reporters, noting that the number of migrants crossing the central and eastern Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe was higher but was declining. "Spain deserves more solidarity from the European Union."
In this Friday Jan. 19, 2018 photo children from Eritrea rest on board the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue ship as the vessel heads to the Italian port of Pozzallo, in Sicily. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
In this Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 photo Guillermo Cañardo, a doctor from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, assists an Eritrean child as the organization's rescue vessel heads to Italy with more than 500 refugees and migrants on board. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
Leggeri also said a system in place in Italy and Greece to register those arriving will also be implemented in Spain. The system makes it easier to identify migrants so they can be repatriated if they are denied residency in Europe. It also allows European law-enforcement authorities to compare criminal records with other countries' police agencies.
In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo Sub-Saharan refugees and migrants look to the Italian authorities from aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
In this Friday Jan. 19, 2018 photo a child from Eritrea sings to celebrate his arrival to Europe aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, Pozzallo, Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
The International Organization for Migration says 2,583 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea this year through Wednesday, and 199 others died en route.
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda says it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled and controversial bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some of them to the East African country.
There is even a place ready and waiting for the migrants — a refurbished Hope Hostel in the vibrant upscale neighborhood of Kagugu, an area of the Rwandan capital of Kigali that is home to many expats and several international schools.
The hostel once housed college students whose parents died in the 1994 genocide, this African nation’s most horrific period in history when an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the deportation flights would begin in July but has refused to provide details or say about how many people would be deported.
Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda told The Associated Press on Tuesday that authorities here have been planning for the migrants' arrival for two years.
“Even if they arrive now or tomorrow, all arrangements are in place,” he said.
The plan was long held up in British courts and by opposition from human rights activists who say it is illegal and inhumane. It envisages deporting to Rwanda some of those who enter the U.K. illegally and migrant advocates have vowed to continue to fight against the plan.
The measure is also meant to be a deterrent to migrants who risk their lives in leaky, inflatable boats in hopes that they will be able to claim asylum once they reach Britain. The U.K. also signed a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for migrants, and adopted new legislation declaring Rwanda to be a safe country.
“The Rwanda critics and the U.K. judges who earlier said Rwanda is not a safe country have been proven wrong,” Mukuralinda said. “Rwanda is safe.”
The management at the four-story Hope Hostel says the facility is ready and can accommodate 100 people at full capacity. The government says it will serve as a transit center and that more accommodations would be made available as needed.
Thousands of migrants arrive in Britain every year.
After they arrive from Britain, the migrants will be shown to their rooms to rest, after which they will be offered food and given some orientation points about Kigali and Rwanda, said hostel manager Ismael Bakina.
Tents will be set up within the hostel's compound for processing their documentation and for various briefings. The site is equipped with security cameras, visible across the compound.
Within the compound are also entertainment places, a mini-soccer field, a basketball and a volleyball court as well as a red-carpeted prayer room. For those who want to light up, "there is even a smoking room," Bakina explained.
Meals will be prepared in the hostel's main kitchen but provisions are also being made for those who want to prepare their own meals, he said. The migrants will be free to walk outside the hostel and even visit the nearby Kigali city center.
“We will have different translators, according to (their) languages," Bakina added, saying they include English and Arabic.
The government has said the migrants will have their papers processed within the first three months. Those who want to remain in Rwanda will be allowed to do so while authorities will also assist those who wish to return to their home countries.
While in Rwanda, migrants who obtain legal status — presumably for Britain — will also be processed, authorities have said, though it's unclear what that means exactly.
For those who choose to stay, Mukurilinda said Rwanda's government will bear full financial and other responsibilities for five years, after which they will be considered integrated into the society.
At that point, they can start managing on their own.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
A view of Hope Hostel one of the locations where the asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
A view of Hope Hostel one of the locations where the asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
A basketball court with a volleyball play ground at Hope Hostel, where U.K. asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
FILE - A security guard stands in the reception area of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A bedroom is seen inside the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - The interior of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, is seen in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - The exterior of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, is seen in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
