United States migrants to be relocated to Rwanda, with a potential influx of up to 250 individuals.
Rwanda has found itself at the centre of a global debate over migrant resettlement, with the African nation agreeing to accept up to 250 migrants deported from the United States and a previous, albeit short-lived, arrangement with the United Kingdom.
In June 2025, Rwanda signed an agreement with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported from the U.S. This deal is part of Trump's broader immigration policy aimed at deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, to third countries willing to take them. Rwanda retains the ability to approve each individual migrant proposed for resettlement under the agreement.
Migrants approved for resettlement will receive workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to help them integrate and contribute to Rwanda's economy, which is described as one of the fastest-growing in the world over the last decade. Rwanda motivated its participation by citing its societal values based on reintegration and rehabilitation, reflecting its own history of displacement hardships.
The U.S. also has similar deportation deals with South Sudan and Eswatini and has deported other migrants to countries like Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2025 ruled in favor of the Trump administration's ability to deport certain migrants to countries other than their homeland, supporting these kinds of deals.
However, a previous deal with the UK was scrapped after the British government that negotiated it lost the 2024 elections. The British Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that Rwanda was not a safe third country for migrants, deeming the arrangement unlawful. Critics raised concerns about Rwanda's human rights record and the safety of deported migrants under such deals.
The deals have been controversial due to questions about the safety and human rights conditions in Rwanda. The UK's highest court explicitly ruled against the safety of Rwanda as a third country for asylum seekers. The expulsion of migrants to countries where they have no substantial ties and potential risk has drawn international criticism.
Rwanda, however, has pushed back against these concerns, insisting it does not refoule asylum seekers. The nation has also suggested it had no plans to reimburse the more than $300 million it received from the UK for the deportations.
It is not disclosed how Rwanda stands to benefit from housing US deportees, or whether the US migrants would be kept in the same accommodation that Rwanda had planned to house deported UK asylum seekers. Rwanda is not new to discussions around third-country deportations, having previously partnered with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to temporarily host asylum seekers and refugees from Libya.
The Trump administration has persisted in attempting to strike agreements with African countries to accept its unwanted deportees. Approved migrants will be provided with workforce training, health care, and accommodation support. However, the US has faced criticism for allegedly pressuring some African countries, such as Nigeria and South Africa, to take in its foreign deportees.
In 2022, Rwanda reached a controversial migrant deal with the United Kingdom to receive deported asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the UK, but the deal did not materialize due to legal disputes and was subsequently scrapped.
Sources: 1. BBC News 2. The Guardian 3. Al Jazeera 4. Reuters 5. CNN
- Despite concerns about Rwanda's human rights record and the safety of migrants under third-party resettlement deals, the Trump administration, in June 2025, signed an agreement with Rwanda to accept US migrants deported for being undocumented, citing Rwanda's economic growth and societal values.
- The policy-and-legislation around third-country deportations are under scrutiny, with general-news outlets reporting on the UK's rejection of Rwanda as a safe third country for asylum seekers in 2023 and the US's alleged pressure on countries like Nigeria and South Africa to accept their foreign deportees.
