Will the United States deport people to Rwanda?

After a plan by the United Kingdom to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was scrapped last year, Kigali is now in discussions about a similar arrangement with the United States, despite concerns from rights groups.

This month, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed that his country is in talks with Washington over a migration deal, but concrete details have been scarce.Analysts say this time, things just might work out for Rwanda.

Donald Trump’s government is actively deporting refugees to third countries like El Salvador and is reportedly in talks with Libya, a country beset by conflict and economic instability that already hosts tens of thousands of refugees.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the administration is looking for countries, preferably distant ones, to accept deported individuals, particularly convicted criminals who have served their sentences.

“We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries,’” Rubio said during a cabinet meeting in April, adding that far-off locations would prevent re-entry.What is in the proposal?
Minister Nduhungirehe, speaking to state TV on May 5, refused to give the full details of Kigali’s discussions with Washington but said the two countries were involved in talks at the “early stage”.

“We are in bilateral talks,” the official said. It’s unclear how many refugees could be transferred or when that might commence.Rwandan government spokesperson Yolanda Makolo, in a statement to Al Jazeera, said no details have been formalised.

“At this point, we are still in discussion and nothing has yet been agreed. One aspect of our approach is based on rehabilitation and integration, as opposed to prison camps or detention centres,” she said on Friday.

Earlier reporting by local Rwandan media suggested the agreement could see the US pay for a programme to help deported refugees integrate into Rwandan society through stipends and job assistance schemes.

The US has not publicly commented on the Rwandan talks.

In what looked like a possible model for future deportations, Washington quietly deported an Iraqi man, Omar Abdulsattar Ameen, to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, in April. Although Ameen was granted US refugee status in 2014 and is a resident of Sacramento, the US government under Joe Biden and the previous Trump administration had sought to remove him from the country.Has Rwanda done similar deals in the past, and what happened?
In 2024, Rwanda attempted to seal a similar refugee relocation deal with the UK, but it ultimately failed.

The Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) deal was originally agreed to in 2022 when the UK faced a surge of migrants and refugees arriving on boats. The plan was for Rwanda to process asylum claims and resettle them in the East African nation if the applications were successful.

The agreement also stated that the UK was to provide aid funding to Rwanda and pay for the cost of processing and integrating each individual. Each person, in the first year, would cost £45,262 ($61,358). The plan was for an initial five-year period. Individuals not wanting to stay would be flown to their home country by Rwanda. The UK would pay £10,000 ($13,440) for every individual Rwanda returned.

However, legal challenges hampered progress as migrant advocates who condemned the move as unethical and unlawful launched several lawsuits. They argued the deal violates the non-refoulement principle of the United Nations Convention on Refugees, which protects people from being forced back to countries where they face serious threats to life or their freedom. At one point, a court order prevented a plane ready to fly the first set of people to Rwanda from taking off. Despite the opposition, parliament passed a bill of approval in April 2024.