Rwanda received its first group of migrants deported from the US, making good on a controversial deal it struck with President Donald Trump’s administration to accept them.
“The first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August,” Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson for the Rwandan government, said in a written response to Bloomberg questions on Thursday.
The East African nation announced earlier this month it would take as many as 250 deportees from the US, and that they would receive training, health care and accommodation after relocating.
Trump has cracked down on undocumented migrants since returning to the White House in January and his administration has negotiated several agreements to send them to countries other than their own, including South Sudan and Eswatini. While it argues that it needs to rapidly evict dangerous criminals whose home nations won’t take them, civil rights groups say the practice will have a greater impact on law-abiding people who aren’t US citizens and are at risk of being sent to unfamiliar places with little if any recourse.
Rwanda previously agreed to accept migrants deported by the UK, but Prime Minister Keir Stamer’s government backtracked on that plan after taking office last year.
Three individuals sent from the US to Rwanda “have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” Makolo said. “Regardless of their specific needs, all of these individuals will receive appropriate support and protection from the Rwandan government.”
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