Rwanda has confirmed its willingness to accept deported migrants from the United States, amid ongoing efforts by President Donald Trump to execute a mass deportation strategy.
On Tuesday, Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson for the Rwandan government, stated that the African nation had agreed to receive up to 250 deported individuals.
This agreement positions Rwanda as the third African country, following South Sudan and Eswatini, to accept non-citizen deportees from the U.S.
Makolo emphasized in her statement that nearly every Rwandan family has faced the hardships of displacement, and thus their societal values are deeply rooted in reintegration and rehabilitation efforts.
However, the Trump administration’s aggressive stance on deportations has sparked numerous human rights concerns, particularly regarding the relocation of individuals to countries where they have no personal ties.
Several of these countries, Rwanda included, have faced scrutiny over their human rights records, raising fears about the safety and treatment of the deported migrants.
Critics have condemned President Trump for utilizing African countries as a ‘dumping ground’ for migrants, particularly those with criminal records.
In response to these potential criticisms, Makolo clarified that Rwanda would have the final authority on whether individuals could be accepted into the country.
Under the agreement, Rwanda reserves the right to approve each individual designated for resettlement.
Those who are accepted will receive workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to help them rebuild their lives in Rwanda, which has one of the fastest-growing economies globally in the past decade.
Emphasizing this point, Makolo noted that the resettlement process is designed to allow migrants to become contributing members of Rwandan society.
Trump’s administration has made the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants a significant priority in his administration, having successfully campaigned on this platform during the 2024 election.
The estimated population of undocumented migrants in the U.S. is around 11 million, many of whom have been integral members of their communities for years.
Critics have pointed out that the infrastructure necessary to support such widespread deportation does not exist.
In an effort to bolster immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has allocated significant funds to immigration-related projects.
The recently enacted ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ signed into law in July, allocated $45 billion for immigration detention centers, many of which will operate under private contracts.
Additionally, $4.1 billion from this law is designated for hiring and training new personnel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with another $2.1 billion set aside for bonuses.
The administration’s focus on deportation has resulted in legal challenges and backlash, particularly regarding the rapid pace of these actions.
Critics have alleged that deported migrants are frequently denied due process, with little time to contest their removals.
Moreover, there are incidents where undocumented migrants have been sent to ‘third-party countries’ where they may not even speak the language, complicating their ability to navigate their new surroundings.
Just weeks after his inauguration in January, President Trump began deporting migrants from countries such as India, China, Iran, and Afghanistan to places like Panama.
During these deportations, migrants were detained in hotels and later in a detention camp.
In March, Trump’s administration declared over 200 men, many identified as Venezuelan, to be gang members, which facilitated their expedited removal to El Salvador.
Legal advocates have challenged these claims, suggesting that many immigrants were categorized as gang members based merely on tattoos or appearance choices.
El Salvador received $6 million as part of an agreement to confine the men in a maximum-security prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Centre or CECOT, which has a history of documented human rights abuses.
Although the men were ultimately released in a prisoner exchange with Venezuela last month, a federal court in the U.S. is still determining whether the Trump administration violated a judge’s order by permitting the deportation flights to commence at all.
In May, the Trump administration introduced plans to initiate ‘third-party’ deportations to African nations, heightening existing concerns about human rights implications.
The initial proposal included Libya as a destination, but after a judge blocked the departure over due process concerns, the Libyan authorities later denied any willingness to accept deported migrants from the U.S.
Later that month, however, the administration succeeded in sending eight deportees to South Sudan, a country which the U.S. State Department classifies as too dangerous for American citizens.
That flight was diverted to Djibouti after a Massachusetts judge ruled that the eight men onboard had not received an appropriate opportunity to contest their deportations.
Among the individuals on that flight were seven men originally from Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico, and Myanmar, with only one actually being from South Sudan.
Despite labeling them as dangerous criminals, the circumstances surrounding their deportations raised significant concerns about legality and moral implications, especially given the risks posed by South Sudan’s legal system.
In mid-July, deportation efforts were expanded to include Eswatini, a small, landlocked nation governed by an absolute monarchy.
The five deported individuals identified in this round of flights hailed from diverse backgrounds, including Laos, Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, and Yemen.
Administration spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin referred to these individuals as uniquely dangerous, claiming that their countries of origin refused to take them back.
Reportedly, attorneys for these men have been obstructed from accessing their clients, who are currently being held in a maximum-security facility.
While details about the newly announced deportations to Rwanda remain sparse, questions about when such flights will commence and who will be included continue to loom.
It has emerged that Rwanda will receive financial compensation in the form of a grant for accepting these deportations, though the specifics of this arrangement have not been disclosed.
Rwanda has also established criteria for which individuals it will accept, explicitly stating that no child sex offenders will be included and that only individuals with either a clean criminal record or those who have completed their prison terms will be allowed entry.
The latest announcement aligns with a growing trend of Rwandan authorities seeking closer ties with the Trump administration.
In June, President Trump claimed to have played a pivotal role in promoting peace between Rwanda and its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
He invited the leaders from both nations to the White House for a signing ceremony of a peace agreement.
Critics have pointed out that the arrangement was vague and failed to address Rwanda’s alleged support for the M23 paramilitary group, which has committed violent acts within the DRC.
This diplomatic maneuvering seemingly serves both nations’ interests, as it gives the U.S. access to essential minerals like copper and lithium that are crucial for technological advancement.
Political analyst Gonzaga Muganwa remarked that the Rwandan government’s actions reflect the sentiment that ‘appeasing President Trump pays off.’
He suggested that the agreement to accept U.S. migrants would strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Previously, Rwanda made a deal in 2022 with the United Kingdom to accept asylum seekers; however, this agreement was struck down by the British Supreme Court in 2023, ruling that Rwanda was not a safe country for such resettlement.
image source from：aljazeera
