Rwanda confirms early talks with US over deportation of migrants

Rwanda has confirmed that it is in the early stages of discussions with the United States regarding the possibility of receiving migrants deported from American territory.

This comes as part of Kigali’s growing role as a destination for migrants that Western governments seek to remove.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe revealed the ongoing talks during an interview with state broadcaster Rwanda TV, saying that the discussions are still at a preliminary stage.

"We are in discussions with the United States. 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," he said.

Over recent years, Rwanda has attracted international attention for entering into agreements with countries such as Britain to host migrants.

In 2022, Kigali signed a deal with the UK to receive thousands of asylum seekers, but the plan was dropped in 2024 after Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office and scrapped the agreement.

Despite such efforts, human rights groups have raised concerns about Rwanda’s treatment of migrants, accusing the government of failing to uphold basic protections.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has also warned that migrants sent to Rwanda may be at risk of being returned to the same countries they fled.

Kigali has dismissed these accusations, calling them false.

The confirmation of talks between Rwanda and the US comes amid a fresh crackdown on immigration by the Trump administration, which returned to power in January.

The administration has aggressively pursued deportations of undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens and moved to halt refugee resettlement.

Last month, the US deported an Iraqi refugee to Rwanda.

The man had been resettled in the United States but faced longstanding efforts by Washington to extradite him after Iraq claimed he had ties to the Islamic State.

A US official and an internal email confirmed the deportation.

In April, the US Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants who had been accused of gang activity.

The government had attempted to use a rarely invoked wartime law to justify the deportations.