Rwanda in early talks to receive deported immigrants from the United States

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has announced that Rwanda is in the preliminary stages of discussions with the United States regarding the potential transfer of immigrants deported from the U.S.

This development positions Rwanda further as a country willing to receive migrants that Western nations seek to remove, a stance that has drawn criticism from human rights organizations who have raised concerns about Kigali’s human rights record. 

“We are in discussions with the United States,’’ Nduhungirehe said in an interview with the state broadcaster Rwanda TV. “It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing still in the early stages.’’ 

Rwanda previously entered into a controversial agreement with Britain in 2022 to accept thousands of asylum seekers from the UK.

However, this deal was ultimately scrapped in 2024 by the newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

Nduhungirehe confirmed the ongoing discussions with the U.S. in an interview with the state broadcaster Rwanda TV, stating that while the talks are in their early phases, they are indeed taking place.

This potential agreement aligns with a broader push by the U.S. administration to aggressively deport immigrants residing in the country without legal authorization and other non-citizens.

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The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has previously voiced concerns about the potential risks associated with transferring migrants to Rwanda, including the possibility of some individuals being returned to the very countries they fled.

Kigali has vehemently denied these allegations, accusing the UNHCR of spreading falsehoods.

In a recent instance in April, the U.S. deported a resettled Iraqi refugee to Rwanda, despite long-standing attempts to extradite him in response to claims from the Iraqi government that he had ties to the Islamic State.

Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court recently intervened in April, temporarily blocking the administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang membership, utilizing a rarely invoked wartime law.