PREVIEW
Denmark among European countries considering follow UK and US lead
Rwanda has become the latest African state to accept foreign deportees from United States after confirming that it had received seven people expelled by Washington.
Although it is unclear what, if any, incentives are on offer to President Paul Kagame’s government, Kigali said in early August that it would accept up to 250 deportees from the US. Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told journalists on 28 August that they had been ‘accommodated by an international organisation’. In addition, those approved for settlement in Rwanda will receive workforce training and health care.
Uganda, Eswatini and South Sudan have also agreed to take US deportees but without setting a specific figure (AC Vol 66 No 15, Trump ‘cash for migrants’ playbook hits roadblocks in Africa).
The idea of paying Rwanda to accommodate asylum seekers was minted by Conservative United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson only to be scrapped in July 2024 by the incoming Labour government. But unlike the UK plan, which committed to paying Rwanda £300 million per year, the terms of the deals brokered by the Trump administration have been kept secret (AC Dispatches, 29/5/24, Whitehall's migrant deal with Kigali set to collapse).
In the meantime, EU officials, despite the bloc previously questioning whether such a scheme would breach international asylum law, are now actively considering them. Denmark, which hold the EU Council’s six-month presidency, has put the idea of creating ‘return hubs’ in African countries and others on the agenda for EU home affairs ministers.
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