US uses Africa for deportation deals, ex-officials say

Two former State Department officials told AFP that the United States is using visa pressure and financial incentives to push African governments into accepting deportees from third countries under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Lawyers said some deportees have been held without charge in countries where they have no ties, little access to rights and uncertain legal status. Deportees have been sent to countries including Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.

The State Department told AFP that implementing the Trump administration's immigration policies was a top priority and that the government remained committed to ending illegal and mass immigration and strengthening border security. The White House did not respond to the allegations.

US Senators and NGOs said two-thirds of the 39 countries affected by full or partial Trump administration travel bans are in Africa, and that nearly half of countries that have made deportation deals with Washington are African. Human Rights Watch said Eswatini agreed to take 160 deportees for $5.1 million and that Rwanda reportedly sealed a $7.5 million aid deal for 250 people.

Cases described by lawyers and deportees include Cambodian Pheap Rom, who was sent to a high-security prison in Eswatini before later returning to Phnom Penh, and people sent to Ghana who were later dumped in Togo without documents. A man identified as Khalid said he was deported to Equatorial Guinea despite having protection from removal to his home country.

Immigration lawyers said some people with Convention Against Torture or withholding-of-removal protections were told of their destination only after boarding deportation flights. They said the administration argues that such protections bar removal only to a person's country of origin, not to a third country.

The International Organization for Migration said its humanitarian assistance to migrants is voluntary and based on informed consent, after a lawyer and deportees described pressure to accept repatriation programmes.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said third-country agreements are essential to US safety. The number of people deported and the full list of countries taking them have not been made public.