Rwanda is engaged in early-stage talks with the United States government to receive immigrants, the country’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed on state TV.
Gatekeepers News reports that the discussions come amid a backdrop of controversy surrounding the US’s mass deportation drive and its negotiations with several countries to send migrants to third nations.
“We are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America,” Nduhungirehe said, acknowledging that the talks were ongoing but not yet conclusive. “I would say the discussions are in their initial stages, but we continue to talk about this problem of migrants.”
The Rwandan government had previously signed a multi-million deal with the UK to receive deported illegal migrants, but it was scrapped after a new government was elected last year. Nduhungirehe noted that such deals were not new to Rwanda, but he emphasized that the current talks with the US were still in their infancy.
When asked for further details, Nduhungirehe said, “You will be informed when the discussions will be finalized.” The minister’s comments have sparked concerns about the potential human rights implications of such a deal, given Rwanda’s own human rights record and criticism from rights groups.
The US’s dealings with other countries, such as El Salvador, have also been met with controversy. A US official acknowledged that authorities had mistakenly expelled one Salvadoran man, and the US could not bring him back. The UK’s Supreme Court had also ruled that sending migrants to Rwanda through the previous agreement would be illegal due to the risk of ill-treatment.
Rwanda’s human rights record and involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been under increasing scrutiny. The country has been praised for its stability in a turbulent region, but critics argue that this stability comes at the cost of diminished freedom of speech and human rights.
