The Rwandan government said Tuesday it has agreed to accept up to 250 deportees from the US for resettlement but didn’t immediately give any more details, including when they would arrive or what Rwanda got, if anything, out of the deal. The US has already deported eight men it said were dangerous criminals who were in the US illegally to South Sudan and another five to Eswatini. Here’s what we know, and still don’t know, about US President Donald Trump’s expanding third-country deportation program in Africa and the largely secretive deals the US is striking. The US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security haven’t responded to requests seeking more details on the deals in Africa.

The US sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in East Africa in early July after their deportations were held up by a legal challenge. That led to them being kept for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in nearby Djibouti. US officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the US. When it took custody of them a month ago, the South Sudan government said it would ensure their “safety and wellbeing” but has declined to give other details, including where the men are being held and what their fate might be. South Sudan has been wracked by conflict since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and is teetering on the edge of civil war again. (Jamaica Gleaner)