US deportation deal: Rwanda receives first group of migrants

A first group of seven migrants has arrived in Rwanda as part of a deal to accept deportees from the United States, the Rwandan government said Thursday.

“The first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August… Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four others wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told AFP.

The authorities offered no information on the nationalities of the seven deportees.

Rwanda said on August 5 that it would accept up to 250 migrants from the US, stating that it would have “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement”.

The first arrivals are “accommodated by an international organisation with visits by the International Organisation on Migration and Rwandan social services,” Makolo said.

Washington has been pushing a deportation drive, with President Donald Trump’s administration negotiating controversial arrangements to send people to third countries, including South Sudan and Eswatini.

Rwanda earlier signed a lucrative deal to accept unwanted migrants from Britain, only for the agreement to be scrapped when the British government changed hands last year.

Kigali had agreed to the new scheme with Washington because “nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement”, Makolo said earlier this month.

Those who arrive in Rwanda will be provided with training, healthcare and accommodation, she added.

The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary, since the home nations sometimes refuse to accept them.

Rights experts have warned they risk breaking international law by sending people to nations where they face the risk of torture, abduction and other abuses.

Rwanda, home to 13 million people in Africa’s Great Lakes region, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent and has drawn praise for its modern infrastructure.

But the migrant agreement with Britain drew criticism from rights groups and faced a long-running legal challenge.

President Paul Kagame’s government is often accused of rampant human rights violations, crushing political dissent and press freedoms.