Rwanda reached deal with US to take in up to 250 migrants: government
The agreement, first reported by Reuters, was signed by US and Rwandan officials in Kigali in June, said the Rwandan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Washington had already sent an initial list of 10 people to be vetted.
"Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement, and our societal values are founded on reintegration and rehabilitation," said the spokesperson for the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo.
"Under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement. Those approved will be provided with workforce training, health care and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda, giving them the opportunity to contribute to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world over the last decade."
The White House and state department had no immediate comment. The department of homeland security referred questions to the state department.
President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants in the US illegally and his administration has sought to ramp up removals to third countries, including sending convicted criminals to South Sudan and Eswatini.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


eNCA
2 minutes ago
- eNCA
How Trump's love for TV is shaping US diplomacy
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's sudden concern about starving Palestinians was a major shift for the US president, who had previously ignored the endless cries for help from aid groups. So what changed? In his words, it was images of emaciated children in Gaza that Trump saw on television -- his main window into the world that has long shaped his political and diplomatic decision-making. Trump made clear his affection for the small screen in late July when asked if he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a major US ally, that there was no famine in Gaza. "Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry," said Trump, a former reality TV star. "That's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that." Since then, the 79-year-old has repeated that aid must be brought to people living in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, though he has stopped of any major diplomatic moves. "Trump has a reputation for not reading anything, including the briefing papers that his aides prepare for him, and for always believing that he knows better than his staff or anyone else does," said Dan Kennedy, a journalist professor at Northeastern University. "So it's not surprising that he would be affected by images on television, especially since he is known to spend a lot of time watching TV." - 'I watch the shows' - Trump has attended 22 intelligence briefings since taking office in January, according to an AFP tally, despite several reports having revealed that he lacks interest in written reports. However, his love for television is well-documented -- even when it comes to major decisions. In 2015, before he first entered the White House, the billionaire told a journalist asking how he educates himself on military strategy: "Well, I watch the shows." And a New York Times report recounted how Trump spent several hours a day in his first term glued to the television, mainly watching Fox News -- his favorite channel -- but also CNN, NBC and ABC news channels. His second term has been little changed, despite Trump leading an election campaign that deployed social media and podcasts. "Trump is a product of his generation," Kennedy said. "He's not sitting around looking at TikTok." - 'Great television' - The Republican, who hosted 14 seasons of "The Apprentice" television series, knows better than most how images can be weaponized for political point-scoring. He was gleeful after his shocking clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February, which saw the pair rowing in front of the world's press. "This is going to be great television," Trump said. And in May he gave a similar public dressing down to South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa when he sat in the Oval Office for what turned into a diplomatic ambush. Trump hijacked the meeting by playing a video montage -- one littered with inaccuracies -- that purported to prove claims of a "genocide" against white farmers in South Africa. aue/bjt/sla By Aurélia End


Eyewitness News
9 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
EFF says calling Malema 'cockroach' falls outside bounds of political discourse
JOHANNESBURG -The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says the labelling of its president, Julius Malema, as a 'cockroach' falls outside the bounds of political discourse. On Tuesday, the Gauteng High Court ordered suspended Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president Kenny Kunene to apologise to Malema. On 17 November 2021, Kunene called the EFF leader a 'cockroach' four times during a televised interview. Kunene joined the EFF a few months after it was formed in 2013, developing a close relationship with the party's leader, Malema. ALSO READ: High Court rules Kunene's 'cockroach' comments about Malema don't meet threshold for criminal sanction Since leaving the EFF, their relationship has soured, with the two men regularly exchanging insults in public. During the televised interview in question, Kunene's 'cockroach' comments came as a reaction to Malema calling the PA a party of criminals. However, the EFF and high court judge, David Wilson, are in agreement that Kunene crossed a line by calling Malema a cockroach. Judge Wilson said the term cockroach is historically problematic, referencing the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where the massacred Tutsi people were referred to as cockroaches.


eNCA
13 hours ago
- eNCA
Russian strikes kill six across Ukraine
Russian strikes across eastern Ukraine killed six people, including a mechanic at a railway station, and wounded at least a dozen people, authorities said Tuesday. "Russian terrorists inflicted a massive strike on the railway infrastructure of Lozova," the Ukrainian Railways company said in a Telegram post. Ukraine's railways have been heavily targeted by Russia's army throughout its invasion, launched in February 2022. Moscow has escalated aerial attacks ahead of a Friday deadline by US President Donald Trump to make progress towards peace or face massive sanctions. The nighttime strikes Lozova in the eastern Kharkiv region left a passenger train mangled and charred, and damaged the station building with a pile of rubble on the platform. Two people were killed in Lozova, Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. Among them was "a duty mechanic of one of the units," Ukrainian Railways said, adding that several trains have been rerouted. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 25 Iranian-designed Shahed drones at the city, striking civilian infrastructure. "The railway was damaged, including a depot and a station," he said on social media, adding that 10 people were wounded in the attack. Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 46 attack drones and one ballistic missile in the barrage -- down from the several hundred that Moscow has the capacity to launch. Lozova Mayor Sergiy Zelensky called the strike "the most massive attack" on the city since the beginning of the war. A separate Russian strike on Ukraine's northeast Sumy region killed two more people at an "agricultural enterprise", wounding three employees, authorities said. In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, another two people died after "the Russian army hit a house with an FPV drone," governor Ivan Fedorov said. Trumps deadline looms after three rounds of peace talks in Istanbul failed to make headway on a possible ceasefire, with the two sides remaining far apart. Russia's army has escalated attacks and accelerated its advance on the ground to capture more Ukrainian territory.