Two female members of the European Parliament revealed that Rwanda held preliminary talks with some European Union countries about the possibility of hosting centers to house migrants deported from Europe, as part of European efforts to establish what are known as “return centers” outside Europe.
Member of the European Parliament Tineke Strick, for the Greens/European Free Alliance, and Anna Strollenberg, for the Volt Group, said that during a visit to Kigali last week, Rwandan officials informed them of their country’s openness to this idea, while emphasizing that the talks are still in their early stages and no agreement has been concluded yet.
These developments come after five European countries, namely Germany, Austria, Greece, Denmark, and the Netherlands, known in the media as the “Group of Five,” announced their intention to reach agreements this year to send immigrants who do not have a legal right to remain in the European Union to countries outside it.
A European official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that Rwanda is among the countries with which the group is holding discussions in this regard, while Agence France-Presse had reported last April that the five countries were studying agreements with about ten other countries.
During the visit, Rwandan officials presented to the two parliamentarians two facilities that had originally been prepared as part of the canceled British deportation plan to Rwanda, one of which was a hotel, which could potentially be used to house migrants transferred from Europe this time.
Strick described the deportation plans as “unrealistic, inhumane, and expensive,” while Strollenberg warned of the consequences of putting pressure on Rwanda and Uganda, describing them as among the “few stable countries” in the region, at a time when both were affected by the reduction in American aid.
The five European countries are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the Council of Justice and Home Affairs of the European Union, in the first direct meeting of European interior ministers since the Spanish Ceuta crisis this summer.
This effort is based on the “Return Regulations” approved by the European Parliament last June, which allows EU countries to send rejected asylum seekers to countries outside the bloc. According to previous reports, the five countries aim to sign a possible agreement in early 2027, with the actual start of operation of the facilities during the same year.
Rwanda went through a previous experience with Britain that ended in miserable failure, as Boris Johnson’s government concluded a similar agreement in 2022, but only four people arrived in Kigali, all of them voluntarily, before Keir Starmer’s government canceled the agreement in July 2024 and described it as “dead and buried,” after London had paid Kigali about 290 million pounds sterling. Subsequently, Rwanda filed an international arbitration case to demand remaining payments, which was rejected by an international arbitration panel last May.
On the other hand, in 2025, Rwanda concluded an agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump to receive up to 250 deported migrants from the United States, and this agreement was actually implemented. Kigali is also holding parallel negotiations with Italy, during which the Rwandan side proposed expanding the “Gashura Centre” south of the capital, an emergency transit facility that was originally hosting refugees evacuated from Libya.
The Rwandan government did not issue a direct comment confirming or denying what the two representatives reported, but its spokeswoman, Yolande Makolo, had previously described the talks with Italy as “exploratory,” stressing that Rwanda seeks to “stop the death of Africans in the desert and the Mediterranean.”
On the other hand, human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have warned that these “return” centers may turn into “black legal loopholes” that leave migrants in a legal vacuum without adequate oversight, citing similar failed experiences, most notably the British deal and Italy’s canceled agreement with Albania.
