The Rwandan government confirmed its acceptance of up to 250 deportees from the United States under President Donald Trump’s expanding third-country deportation initiative, AP News reported.
This agreement marks a significant escalation in the administration’s strategy to relocate individuals deemed “the worst of the worst” among those who entered the US unlawfully. Rwanda’s decision emerges despite the collapse of its controversial 2022 asylum pact with the United Kingdom, which was ultimately ruled unlawful by Britain’s Supreme Court.
Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo outlined the arrangement in correspondence with The Associated Press, though specifics regarding the deportation timeline remain undisclosed. The East African nation, home to approximately 15 million people, joins South Sudan and Eswatini as African partners in the US programme.
Last month, Washington deported 13 convicted individuals to these nations, alongside hundreds of Venezuelans and others sent to Central American states including Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama. Neither South Sudan nor Eswatini publicly detailed their agreements with the US.
The US-Rwanda pact bears structural similarities to the ill-fated UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership. Under that earlier arrangement, asylum seekers arriving in Britain would have been processed in Rwanda, with successful claimants required to remain there permanently.
The UK Supreme Court nullified the policy in November 2023, citing Rwanda’s inadequate asylum system and risks of refoulement, the forced return of refugees to persecution zones. Judges highlighted Rwanda’s 0% asylum approval rate for claimants from Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen between 2020-2022, alongside evidence of secret removals under a prior Israel-Rwanda agreement.
Rwanda’s involvement in multiple deportation schemes raises questions about its capacity to safeguard relocated individuals. The UK Supreme Court previously documented “serious and systematic defects” in Rwanda’s asylum procedures, including political interference in judicial decisions and a misunderstanding of non-refoulement principles.
In one incident cited by the court, Rwandan police killed at least twelve refugees during a 2018 protest over food ration cuts.
