Eritrea blasts Rwanda-UK asylum deal

KIGALI, Rwanda

Eritrea on Monday said a recent deal between Rwanda and Britain to resettle asylum seekers attempting to enter the UK was disgraceful.

Last week, Rwanda and the UK inked a major deal under which Britain will send asylum seekers to the East African country.

The agreement was signed by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta in the capital city Kigali.

Also under the agreement, the UK committed to an upfront investment of £120 million ($156.9 million) to facilitate its implementation.

In a statement, Eritrea's Information Ministry described the accord as a questionable "illicit scheme of refugee off-shoring," saying it was "intended to obscure the underlying causes, dynamics and varied tentacles of the scourge of human trafficking."

It said that certain countries were pursuing policies of "strategic depopulation" against other nations for ulterior political motives.

Rwanda's Foreign Minister Biruta had praised the agreement as a unique approach to addressing the global migration crisis.

For her part, British Home Secretary Patel said it was in response to a global failure to address the migration crisis, arguing that relocation would help asylum seekers resettle and rebuild their lives.

However, Eritrea said the scheme should be "roundly opposed and deplored."