Rwanda has confirmed it’s in the “early stage” of talks with the United States about taking in illegal immigrants deported by the Trump administration.
The comment from Olivier Nduhungirehe, the nation’s Foreign Affairs minister, comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month the U.S. is “actively searching” for countries to take “some of the most despicable human beings.”
“It is true that we are in discussions with the United States,” Nduhungirehe said in an interview with Rwanda TV.
“These talks are still ongoing, and it would be premature to conclude how they will unfold,” he added.
The small, landlocked nation hosts hundreds of African refugees from Libya awaiting resettlement in a joint partnership with the United Nations refugee agency. It has also signed a deal with Denmark to improve cooperation on asylum and migration, and it entered into a secretive partnership with Israel to receive deported African migrants.
Rwanda agreed to a deal with Britain to receive third-country asylum seekers in 2022 in a contentious plan that was later deemed unlawful by the British Supreme Court. Last year, the British government passed legislation to override the court’s decision and declare Rwanda a “safe country.”
Only four people voluntarily left for Rwanda under the plan, and when the Conservatives lost the general election last July, the new Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the deal. The program cost British taxpayers 715 million pounds, or about $949 million, with some 290 million pounds going to Rwanda. Rwanda’s government has said it will not repay the money.
The discussions between Rwanda and the United States were first reported by The Handbasket and coincide with a U.S. effort to mediate a peace deal in the war between Rwanda and neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Handbasket and Reuters news agency also reported that the United States deported an Iraqi refugee, Omar Abdulsattar Ameen, to Rwanda. Mr. Nduhungirehe did not refer to that case during his interview on Rwanda TV. (NYT)
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While the State Department was evasive about the talks with Rwanda, a spokesperson told The New York Times “Ongoing engagement with foreign governments is vital to deterring illegal and mass migration and securing our borders.”
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