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KIGALI: Seven migrants were transferred from the United States to Rwanda in August under a deportation agreement with the US, authorities in the East African country said Thursday.

Rwanda said earlier in August it would accept up to 250 deportees from the US

Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said in a statement that the “first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August.”

Rwanda is one of four African countries that have reached deportation agreements with Washington, The others are Uganda, Eswatini and South Sudan.

No information was provided about the identities of the deportees sent to Rwanda this month.

They have been “accommodated by an international organization” with visits by the International Organization for Migration, as well as representatives of Rwandan social services, Makolo said.

“Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” Makolo said.

In addition to accommodation, those approved for settlement in Rwanda will receive workforce training and health care, she said.

The Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the African countries it has entered into secretive deals with to take deportees. It sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in early July after a US Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for their deportations.

The US also deported five men who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini, where the government said they will be held in solitary confinement in prison for an undetermined period of time.

Uganda has also agreed to a deal with the US to take deported migrants as long as they don’t have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors. US officials have said they want to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a high-profile detainee, to Uganda.

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s anti-graft agency said on Thursday that its detention facilities have run out of space to hold corruption suspects, following a series of high-profile sting operations this year.

Graft is a longstanding problem in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with Indonesia ranked 99 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Corruption Eradication Commission has conducted at least five sting operations in 2025, including last week’s arrest of Deputy Manpower Minister Immanuel Ebenezer, making him the first member of President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet to be arrested for graft.

“The ideal capacity for KPK’s detention center … is 51 people. Right now, we have 57 people in custody,” KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said.

“Even though it is full now, it does not hinder the eradication of corruption that KPK is doing.”

Prabowo, who took office last October, has pledged to step up efforts to eradicate corruption, which he says drained government finances.

“(Indonesia has) extraordinary wealth, but there are too many thieves stealing money that belongs to the people. And for that, I am determined to put things in order,” he said during an event in Jakarta in June.

But the recent string of arrests is “not comparable to the number of alleged corruption cases” in Indonesia, said political analyst and anti-corruption activist Ray Rangkuti.

“We’re probably looking at one-tenth or even less than that, in terms of the actual number of corruption allegations that are widespread in Indonesia,” he told Arab News.

“Why didn’t KPK make a bigger detention center from the start? People know that here in Indonesia, anything is corruptible.”

Rangkuti viewed KPK’s recent arrests as “small fish,” highlighting Ebenezer’s case.

“They just arrested the deputy minister. But is it just him doing graft? There are 11 people arrested in connection to that case, but it’s a trivial one,” he said.

Anti-graft investigators said Ebenezer and other defendants benefited from illegal fees for the processing of safety permits needed by construction, mining or manufacturing employees to get work.

They are accused of charging 6 million rupiah, or $367.59, for the documents, far higher than the official rate of 250,000 rupiah, the proceeds of which were later distributed to ministry officials.

“My impression is that they are racing for quantity, not quality,” Rangkuti said. “So they’re sending a lot of people to jail, even though the cases are relatively small.”