Rwanda has confirmed that it is in preliminary discussions with the United States about a potential agreement to host migrants deported from American soil, marking a new chapter in global migration diplomacy.
Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, revealed during a local television interview on Sunday that conversations with Washington are “in the early stages,” though the idea itself isn’t new. Rwanda, he noted, had previously engaged in a similar deal with the United Kingdom—one that was later scrapped following political shifts in the UK government.
“We are open to giving another chance to migrants who find themselves stranded around the world,” Nduhungirehe said, reinforcing Rwanda’s self-styled image as a country willing to provide refuge amid global immigration crackdowns.
The confirmation comes just weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was “actively searching” for countries willing to accept “some of the most despicable human beings” as part of the president’s sweeping deportation agenda. Since returning to office in January, President Trump has ramped up efforts to remove undocumented individuals from the country, promising mass deportations in a series of public statements.
While Nduhungirehe refrained from detailing exactly what kind of migrants the agreement might involve or how many individuals Rwanda might take in, he stressed that the outcome of the talks was still uncertain. “It’s premature to speculate,” he said.
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Rwanda has already demonstrated a willingness to accept deported migrants in the past. In March, the country reportedly received an Iraqi national expelled from the U.S., according to a Rwandan official who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity. The same official noted that talks with the U.S. began shortly after President Trump’s inauguration earlier this year.
This move would place Rwanda in a small but growing group of nations, including El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica, that have expressed openness to taking in deportees from the U.S. El Salvador, for example, offered to house criminal deportees—including those with American citizenship—in its controversial mega-jail, in exchange for a financial deal with Washington.
Despite criticism from human rights groups over past concerns, including the possibility of deported individuals facing secondary removal to unsafe countries, Rwandan officials continue to emphasize that the country is safe for refugees.
Whether these talks will materialize into a formal agreement remains to be seen. For now, Rwanda’s willingness to negotiate highlights a global shift: as wealthy nations tighten their borders, others are quietly stepping into roles that could reshape the future of international asylum and resettlement.
