“We have been working to strengthen relationships between the Government of Liberia and US policymakers for the past year, so this is an important extension of that effort,” says Jeffrey Smith, whose firm Vanguard Africa has been lobbying for the foreign ministry since last June. “It’s also an extension of Liberia’s critical role in West Africa, which includes its recent ascension to the UN Security Council, and its democratic progress in a region otherwise plagued by military coups and democratic backsliding.”
THE PLIGHT OF TUNDU LISSU: Call for his Immediate and Unconditional Release
Alongside the Platform for African Democrats, we stand in unwavering solidarity with our longtime partner and colleague, Tundu Lissu, and call for his immediate and unconditional release. His ongoing persecution sends a deeply troubling message about Tanzania’s lack of justice and democracy. #FreeTunduLissu
Statement: As Kagame Seeks Peace with the DRC, He Must Also Declare Peace with Political Rivals
On June 26, Vanguard Africa joined a global chorus of civil society groups to raise awareness about President Paul Kagame and his regime’s long history of imprisoning, disappearing, and murdering his critics with impunity. This must end. Democratic governments around the world should expect more from an ally that depends heavily on foreign aid – they must demand that Kagame respect the rule of law and stop his relentless campaign to silence dissidents both within and outside Rwanda.
Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To (Bloomberg – May 29)
“It’s just astounding to me that the US government, regardless of their disregard for human rights at this moment in time, would send immigrants or asylum-seekers to a country like Rwanda,” says Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy nonprofit. Earlier this year, he points out, the State Department issued an elevated travel advisory for the country, advising US citizens to exercise increased caution due to the potential for armed violence. Its neighbor to the west, Congo, is also struggling with a Rwandan proxy militia, M23. Trump’s administration wants to negotiate a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo, but to send migrants to Rwanda now, Smith says, “just makes no sense at all.”
Trump’s Deportation Plan is Similar to Britain’s Costly Rwanda Failure (Washington Post – May 9)
Analysts argue that the Trump administration is giving cover to Kagame, whose government has backed a rebel faction in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo that is implicated in atrocities, amid growing Western scrutiny into his rule. “This is merely a ploy to garner positive headlines and a cynical way in which to compel Western governments, like the U.S., to look the other way when inevitable human rights abuses are committed,” said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the pro-democracy nonprofit Vanguard Africa.
Trump Turns to Rwanda in Search for Migrant Deportation Deal (The Africa Report – May 6)
Jeffrey Smith, founding director of Washington-based advocacy group Vanguard Africa, offered a scathing critique of the proposed deal.
“Deporting immigrants to Rwanda is both morally and legally reprehensible. At its core, the plan is simply inhumane, while also being a violation of long-existing international human rights laws and agreements,” Smith tells The Africa Report.
“The Kagame dictatorship has repeatedly shown itself to not be a reliable, good-faith international partner. It has done so, for instance, by politicising the issue of refugee and immigrant rights, portraying itself as a benign third party, when in fact this is merely a ploy to garner positive headlines and a cynical way in which to compel Western governments, like the US, to look the other way when human rights abuses are committed.”
Smith’s comments reflect broader concerns among rights advocates, who argue that the outsourcing of deportations to countries with questionable human rights records risks legitimising authoritarian governance under the guise of migration management.
Rwanda in ‘early stages’ of talks with U.S. to take deported migrants (NPR – May 6)
Rwanda Responds Warmly to Trump Request to Take Noncitizen Deportees (Washington Post – May 1)
Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the pro-democracy nonprofit Vanguard Africa, said any plan to deport immigrants to Rwanda would be both “morally and legally reprehensible.”
“This is merely a ploy to garner positive headlines and a cynical way in which to compel Western governments, like the U.S., to look the other way when inevitable human rights abuses are committed,” Smith said.
Tension High in Tanzania Ahead of Opposition Leader’s Treason Trial (Radio France International – April 22)
For the NGO Vanguard Africa, Tanzania is headed toward an election with a "foregone conclusion".
"Tanzanians regularly voice frustration with elections that do not meaningfully allow citizens to hold political elites accountable. No one seems to be listening," it wrote on social media.
US Africa Week Ahead: Tanzania in the Hot Seat (The Africa Report – April 14)
Tundu Lissu had been scheduled to travel to Washington this week “to discuss the upcoming elections and need for international support for a free and fair process”, according to Jeffrey Smith, founder of pro-democracy advocacy firm Vanguard Africa and a registered lobbyist for Lissu since 2019.
“In today’s #Tanzania, calling for electoral reforms and demanding free and fair elections is tantamount to treason,” Smith said on X. “@TunduALissu survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and he’ll survive this too. Such criminal treatment of the opposition is deplorable.”