Rwanda has reached a deal with the Trump administration to take in migrants deported from the United States, becoming the third African nation to do so, amid complaints that governments on the continent are being pressured by the White House to receive them.
Foreign US deportees, originally from other nations, had earlier been sent to South Sudan and Eswatini; a US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson described both groups as “barbaric” criminals.
Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that the East African nation had “agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants,” in a deal that allows the government “to approve each individual proposed for resettlement.”
When approved, the migrants, she said, “will be provided with workforce training, health care, and accommodation support to jump start their lives in Rwanda,” allowing them to “contribute to one of the fastest growing economies in the world over the last decade.”
Rwanda, a nation of less than 15 million people, is not new to discussions around third-country deportations to its territory.
It has previously partnered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to temporarily host asylum seekers and refugees evacuated from North African nation Libya, with nearly 3000 arrivals recorded between 2019 and 2025, according to the UN organization.
In 2022, it reached a controversial migrant deal with the United Kingdom to receive deported asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the UK.
The deal did not materialize due to legal disputes and was subsequently scrapped after Keir Starmer became prime minister last July. Rwanda suggested at the time that it had no plans to reimburse the more than $300 million it received from the UK for the deportations.
Makolo did not tell CNN how Rwanda stands to benefit from housing US deportees. She also did not disclose whether the US migrants would be kept in the same accommodation that Rwanda had planned to house deported UK asylum seekers.
“We will provide more details once these have been worked out,” Makolo said.
Rwanda revealed in May that the nation was in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants deported from the US, according to Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.
The Trump administration has persevered in its attempts to strike agreements with several African countries to accept its unwanted deportees despite outrage from Africans who insist that their continent should not be treated as a “dumping ground” for individuals considered unfit to live in the US.
In early July, the US Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to deport certain migrants to countries other than their homeland with little notice. One major hurdle for previous administrations had been dealing with countries who refuse to accept returns of their own nationals, and US President Donald Trump had directed top officials in a January executive order to facilitate international agreements to send migrants elsewhere.
“The United States is constantly engaged in diplomatic conversations with foreign nations who are willing to assist us in removing the illegal aliens that (former US President) Joe Biden allowed to infiltrate American communities,” a White House official told CNN Tuesday.
The US has also faced criticism for allegedly pressuring some of Africa’s powerhouses, such as Nigeria and South Africa, to take in its foreign deportees.
In the case of Rwanda, concerns linger over the safety of refugees given the nation’s human rights record.
During the heated debate over Rwanda’s deal with the UK, the UNHCR commended Rwanda for “generously hosting thousands of refugees…on a temporary basis,” but warned there were “serious risks” that “externalization poses to refugees, including refoulement (sending refugees to a country where they could face persecution).”
At the time, Rwanda pushed back against the UNHCR, insisting it “does not refoule asylum seekers.”
