The United States and Rwanda are negotiating for this African country to host illegal migrants and convicted criminals with foreign passports who are being deported from the United States for an appropriate fee. The Rwandan authorities hope that in this way they will not only be able to replenish the budget, but also gain the political support of Washington. Rwanda is involved in a military conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Congolese are supported by a large coalition, which includes China.
Negotiations on the admission of American illegal immigrants have been underway since January, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said in an interview with Rwandan television. According to him, the African country is determined to “give a second chance” to all those who are being expelled from the United States. Nduhungirehe said that although negotiations have been underway since the inauguration of Donald Trump, they are still at an “early stage.” However, the mutual benefit of the upcoming deal is obvious and suggests that the authorities of Rwanda and the United States will come to an agreement.
Rwandan officials decided to ignore the fact that a similar project with Britain, proposed by the country’s conservative governments, had already failed. The British courts strongly opposed the expulsion of illegal immigrants to Africa. It was claimed that Rwanda was unsafe for foreigners. The British Interior Ministry, in turn, pointed out that this country is one of the most dynamically developing on the African continent, with a fairly high standard of living, again by African standards. The Labour Party’s rise to power in the UK last year led to the complete abandonment of this project. Moreover, according to Interior Minister Yvette Cooper, the failed scheme cost the British budget 700 million pounds, 290 of which were paid to Rwanda. At the expense of British taxpayers, a number of flights with illegal immigrants were paid for, which subsequently had to be returned due to court decisions.
Now that a war is raging in the DRC, to which many countries explicitly refer to Rwanda, the prospect of expelling illegal immigrants there may not bother Trump. He signed a similar agreement with El Salvador, which is also not the safest country in the world. Venezuelan citizens have already been deported from the United States to Salvadoran prisons, famous for their harsh regime. However, the expulsions are being challenged in the courts, where the Trump team is waging a real legal battle with opponents of the expulsions. There is no doubt that the deportations to Rwanda will also be challenged in court.
White House officials did not directly answer reporters’ questions about whether the negotiations that Nduhungirehe had mentioned were underway. But they also did not refute the information of the Rwandan Foreign Ministry. Right now, only the Trump administration’s interest in further expulsions of illegal immigrants is obvious. He even stated that he was ready to pay 1 thousand dollars to each migrant who left the United States. The incentive, of course, is so-so. There are unlikely to be many people willing to use this option. Forced deportations can be much more effective. But Trump’s statement demonstrates his determination to achieve results on the migration issue at any cost.
The topic of relations between the United States and Rwanda will repeatedly overlap with the topic of the war in the east of the DRC. There seems to be at least a pause in the fighting now. The warring parties began negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is one of the mediators in the conflict settlement process between the pro-Rwandan rebels from the M23 group and the Congolese authorities. On Tuesday, May 6, the negotiators handed over to the Americans a draft of a future agreement on peace in the region. Of course, it is more than doubtful that it will put a definitive end to the bloodshed that has been going on and off in the DRC for three decades. Ideally, Rwanda would simply be excluded from the conflict in the neighboring country. The United States recognizes that the Rwandans are not involved in the war.
Meanwhile, Trump is demonstrating that he is ready to look for new countries capable of accepting illegal immigrants arriving in the United States. Moreover, the safety of the deportees is his last concern. Rubio, in front of television cameras, called those whom the White House wants to deport “disgusting people.” Sitting next to Trump, he said that these people should be sent “the further the better.”