Rwanda accepts seven people from US as part of deportation deal

Trump administration pushing controversial deal to send people to non-home countries, including South Sudan and Eswatini

Seven people have arrived in Rwanda as part of a deal to accept deportees from the US, the Rwandan government has said.

“The first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August … Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” Yolande Makolo, a government spokesperson, said on Thursday.

Officials offered no information on the nationalities of the seven deportees. Rwanda said on 5 August it would accept up to 250 people from the US, and that it would have “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement”.

The first arrivals would be “accommodated by an international organisation with visits by the International Organisation on Migration and Rwandan social services”, Makolo said.