By IGNATIUS SSUUNA, Associated Press
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Seven migrants were transferred from the United States to Rwanda in August under a deportation agreement with the U.S., authorities in the East African country said Thursday.
Rwanda said earlier in August it would accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S.
Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said in a statement that the “first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August.”
Rwanda is one of four African countries that have reached deportation agreements with Washington, The others are Uganda, Eswatini and South Sudan.
No information was provided about the identities of the deportees sent to Rwanda this month.
They have been “accommodated by an international organization” with visits by the International Organization for Migration, as well as representatives of Rwandan social services, Makolo said.
“Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” Makolo said.
In addition to accommodation, those approved for settlement in Rwanda will receive workforce training and health care, she said.
The Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the African countries it has entered into secretive deals with to take deportees. It sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in early July after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for their deportations.
The U.S. also deported five men who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini, where the government said they will be held in solitary confinement in prison for an undetermined period of time.
Uganda has also agreed to a deal with the U.S. to take deported migrants as long as they don’t have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors. U.S. officials have said they want to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a high-profile detainee, to Uganda.
