Key facts
- Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims US deportations to third-party African countries are unlawful and exploit suffering.
- HRW states that over 500 people have been sent to African countries where they are not citizens since 2025.
- Deportees sent to Eswatini, Ghana, and South Sudan faced arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, according to HRW.
- In Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Ghana, deportees were sent to their countries of origin despite risks of violating the principle of non-refoulement.
- HRW reported that at least a dozen LGBT individuals were sent to African states that criminalize same-sex relations.
- The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that ICE receives diplomatic assurances from destination countries for the safety of removed aliens.
The US has been sending migrants who cannot be deported to their home nations to other countries instead, a practice that a leading human rights group has condemned as unlawful and exploitative. Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated in a report that the deportation of migrants from the US to third-party African countries exploits suffering to deter migration. The group claims that many deportees have no practical option but to return to their home countries, where they may face harm.
According to HRW, citing US data, more than 500 people have been sent to African countries where they are not citizens since Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the practice, stating that "third country removals are an essential public safety tool that remove the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens from our streets." Tackling immigration was a key pledge for Trump during the 2024 election.
HRW reported that some of the countries accepting these deportees have arbitrarily detained them or sent them to their home countries, where they risk persecution or torture. Specifically, people sent to Eswatini, Ghana, and South Sudan faced arbitrary detention and ill-treatment. In Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Ghana, deportees were sent to their countries of origin despite the risk of violating the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending individuals to countries where they face torture or threats to their life and freedom.
An unnamed US official reportedly told a Senate hearing that the administration's aim was to "threaten people that they will literally be dropped in the middle of nowhere" to "scare people." Michael Garcia Bochenek, HRW's interim US programme director, stated that deporting people to countries they have never set foot in is part of a US policy designed to cause human suffering as a means to deter migration.
DHS said in a statement to the BBC that ICE is given diplomatic assurances from destination countries regarding the safety of removed aliens, and that ICE is no longer responsible once an individual is out of its custody.
While none of the named African countries have officially commented on the HRW report, Eswatini announced the recent departure of three migrants, stating its commitment to respecting the rights and well-being of third-country nationals. HRW interviewed 24 third-country nationals across six countries, some of whom described abusive treatment during deportation flights, including being chained for extended periods, denied medication, and not receiving adequate food or water. The group highlighted that "opaque deals that facilitate these transfers, some of which are still secret, are part of a US policy that violates international human rights law."
The report also noted that at least a dozen LGBT individuals were sent to African states where same-sex relations are criminalized, including refugees previously granted protection in the US due to persecution risks in their home countries. One Nigerian man deported to Ghana expressed fears of being secretly transferred to Togo and subsequently facing arrest and torture in Nigeria due to his association with a separatist activist group. In DR Congo, HRW cited a US lawyer who reported that of 15 individuals deported from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, none remained in the country by late September, raising questions about the voluntariness of their returns to their home countries. Equatorial Guinea quickly sent at least two of the 65 people it received back to their home countries, and Burundi recently announced an agreement to accept migrants deported from the US.