Kigali [Rwanda], August 29 : Rwanda has announced it received seven people deported from the United States as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, Al Jazeera reported.
A Rwandan government spokesperson said on Thursday that the deportees arrived in mid-August, marking the first transfer in an agreement that could see as many as 250 people sent to the central African country.
"Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda," spokesperson Yolande Makolo said in a statement. "Regardless of their specific needs, all of these individuals will receive appropriate support and protection from the Rwandan government."
Makolo emphasised that the Rwandan government had "vetted" the deportees before their arrival. According to Al Jazeera, they are currently being "accommodated by an international organisation" and will receive visits from local social services and the International Organisation for Migration, a UN agency.
Rwanda is the fourth African nation to agree to receive deportations of non-citizens from the US, alongside Uganda, Eswatini and South Sudan. The US has declined to comment on the deportations, and the identities of the seven individuals have not been disclosed, Al Jazeera said.
Deporting migrants and asylum seekers to third countries where they have no personal connection has become a growing practice under Trump. Administration officials argue the policy is necessary for migrants who cannot be returned to their countries of origin.
Rights groups, however, have raised strong objections, questioning whether deportees will be safe in countries with poor human rights records. According to Al Jazeera, Eswatini confirmed that the five deportees it received in July would be held in solitary confinement for a time in prison. A lawyer representing them, Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, said in court filings that he has been denied access to his clients, as protests and a legal challenge against the deportations continue.
Advocates have also criticised the policy as unnecessarily cruel, condemning deportees to countries where they may not speak the language or understand the culture. Some deportees have no criminal record, while others have already served sentences but face reincarceration in third-party countries.
Earlier this month, Makolo sought to allay such concerns, stating that deportees to Rwanda would receive "workforce training, healthcare and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives."
Trump has pledged mass deportations as part of his 2024 re-election campaign, calling immigration an "invasion" led by "criminals" and vowing the "largest deportation operation" in US history.
Al Jazeera noted that since taking office for a second term in January, Trump has already sent migrants to countries such as Panama and El Salvador, the latter housing hundreds of Venezuelan deportees in its Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT), a prison notorious for human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, Rwanda has positioned itself as a destination for deportees, though armed groups backed by the country have themselves faced accusations of forced displacements and illegal deportations amid conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
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