Rwanda and the United States have begun preliminary negotiations over a potential agreement to relocate U.S.-based immigrants to Rwanda, the Rwandan foreign minister told state media Monday.
Washington has been pushing a mass deportation drive, with President Donald Trump's administration negotiating highly controversial arrangements to send migrants to third countries.
The Great Lakes nation – often viewed as an island of stability in a turbulent region – previously made a similar multi-million deal with Britain to receive deported illegal migrants. However, it was scrapped immediately after a new government was elected last year.
Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed earlier reports that Rwanda was among countries talking to Washington over a migrant deal, following a question on state TV on Sunday.
"Those reports are true, we are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America," he said.
Noting the similar agreement with the British, Nduhungirehe said such a deal "is not something new to us."
However, while he confirmed that the two nations were engaged in "ongoing" talks, he said "they are not yet conclusive to determine the direction this will take."
"I would say the discussions are in their initial stages, but we continue to talk about this problem of migrants," he said, without giving further details.
When contacted by AFP about the talks he said: "You will be informed when the discussions will be finalized."
Washington's deal with El Salvador has created a furor, notably after a U.S. official acknowledged that authorities mistakenly expelled one Salvadoran man but that the United States could not bring him back.
The Kigali-London deal was also controversial, with the U.K.'s Supreme Court ruling that sending migrants to Rwanda through the agreement would be illegal because it "would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment."
Rights groups have criticized the tiny nation of roughly 13 million people for its human rights record and increasingly diminished freedom of speech.
Rwanda has also faced mounting pressure over its involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the east of which has been reengulfed in conflict after a lightning strike by a Rwandan-backed military group.
