The deportees arrived in mid-August, according to a spokesperson for the Rwandan government, marking their first move in a deal that could bring in up to 250 people.
According to a statement from spokesperson Yolande Makolo, “four people have expressed a desire to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” while four have already done so.
“All of these people will receive the appropriate support and protection from the Rwandan government, regardless of their particular needs.”
Makolo emphasized that the deportees had been “vetted” by the Rwandan government prior to their arrival.
She continued, adding that they are currently being “accommodated by an international organization” and that local social services and the UN’s International Organization for Migration would visit them.
Along with Uganda, Eswatini, and South Sudan, Rwanda is the fourth African nation to permit non-citizen deportations from the US.
The seven people’s identities have not been made public, and the US has not commented on the most recent deportation.
Under President Trump, deporting people seeking asylum and immigrant status to ‘so-third countries’ where they have no personal ties.
According to officials in the administration, the tactic is required for migrants and asylum seekers who are unable to return to their home countries.
Rights groups, many of whom have poor human rights records, have voiced strong opposition to the policy.
Eswatini, for instance, is regarded as an absolute monarchy that doesn’t allow for dissension.
The five deportees it detained in July will spend some time in isolation, according to a government spokesman there.
Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, a lawyer representing the five deportedees, claims he has been denied access to his clients in court documents. A court case is being brought against the deportations by rights organizations.
Immigration rights advocates claim that deportations from third countries are unnecessary because they put migrants and asylum seekers in conditions where they may not be able to communicate or comprehend culture.
In some of the third-party nations, they also raise concerns about the deportees’ sentences. Some people don’t have a criminal record, while others have already been sentenced to prison and then re-incarcerated.
Some of the third-party nations’ advocates claim that the practice treats immigrants “dumping ground” in their own countries.
Deportedees to Rwanda would receive assistance, including “workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives,” Makolo declared earlier this month, appearing to anticipate some of the concerns about human rights.
Critics speculate that the Trump administration might be deporting people from outside the US to avoid being looked at.
Trump campaigned for re-election in 2024, claiming that immigration to the US had become an “invasion” led by “criminals,” and pledged to carry out a mass deportation campaign.
He vowed that the deportation operation would be the “largest deportation operation” in American history.
Trump and his supporters reportedly reached out to small nations like the Bahamas  to accept non-citizen deportees even before his inauguration. The Bahamas resisted.
However, Trump began moving migrants and asylum seekers to third-party nations like Panama and El Salvador, which had hundreds of Venezuelan deportees housed in its notorious Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT), which is known for its human rights violations, shortly after taking office for a second term in January.
Deported migrants have also been portrayed as alternative locations in nations like Rwanda.
In the midst of a persistent armed conflict in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups supporting Rwanda have been accused of carrying out forced displacements and deportations.
Source: Aljazeera
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