Rwanda receives first group of immigrants after US agreement on deportations
The African country said it would receive up to 250 undocumented immigrants and will be able to "approve each individual proposed for relocation."
File image of immigrant deportation.
A first group of seven migrants arrived in Rwanda under an agreement to receive deportees from the United States, the African country’s government announced Thursday.
"The first group of seven selected migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August (...) Three of the individuals expressed their desire to return to their countries of origin and four wish to stay and rebuild their lives in Rwanda," Yolande Makolo, a government spokeswoman, told AFP.
Rwanda announced on August 5 that it would receive up to 250 migrants under an agreement with the Trump administration, which includes provisions to approve each individual proposed for relocation.
The U.S. has undertaken a migrant deportation campaign and negotiated political agreements to send deportees to third countries, including El Salvador, Uganda, and South Sudan.
They will receive training, health care and accommodation
Rwanda agreed to participate in the agreement with Washington because "almost every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement," Makolo said weeks ago.
She assured that those arriving in Rwanda will receive training, health care and housing.
Human rights advocates warn that sending deportees to third countries could violate international law if they are sent to places where they face the risk of torture, kidnapping, or other abuses.
Rwanda, from a billionaire genocide to the safest country in the world
Although the country is still remembered for the bloody conflicts of the late 20th century—particularly the 1994 genocide, which claimed over one million lives—two decades later, Rwanda is considered one of the safest countries on the continent, according to a Gallup report.
However, President Paul Kagame’s government has faced accusations of human rights abuses and the repression of political dissidents and press freedom.
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