Deporting migrants to third countries shifts responsibility abroad and increases the chance of rights abuses, the organization has warned<\/p>\n
What began as \u201cdiscreet\u201d migration deals between Washington and a handful of African governments has erupted into widespread controversy, with the African Union denouncing the agreements as a policy that risks turning the continent into a \u201cdumping zone\u201d for arbitrary expulsions.
\nSo far, four African nations: Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, and Eswatini, are known to have signed accords allowing the US to transfer third-country migrants \u2014 people mostly with no ties to Africa \u2014 to their soil.
\nNigeria, which has declared it will not accept foreign deportees from the US, has accused Washington of using visa restrictions and tariff hikes to pressure African countries into accepting migrants, including \u201csome straight out of prisons.\u201d
\nTrump\u2019s hardline migration policy and what has happened since July
\nSince returning to office in January, Trump has reinstated a series of hardline immigration measures, delivering on campaign promises to undo what he called the \u201copen border\u201d policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
\nOn July 15, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it had deported five \u201cuniquely barbaric criminals\u201d from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen to Eswatini, Africa\u2019s last absolute monarchy. Lawyers representing the men, whom the DHS described as convicted of crimes ranging from child rape to murder, have reportedly said they are being held in a maximum-security prison in the tiny southern African country with blocked access.
\nDays earlier, Washington removed eight people convicted of crimes including murder, sexual assault, and robbery, who were either nearing the end of their prison terms or had already completed them, to war-torn South Sudan. One of the group is a South Sudanese national, while the others come from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: US deports migrants to another African state<\/p>\n
Last week, Rwanda announced that it had received the first seven deportees in mid-August under a bilateral agreement that could see the country host up to 250 people expelled from the US. A Rwandan official said Kigali would receive a grant from Washington in return, though the amount was not disclosed.
\nOn August 21, Uganda\u2019s Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had concluded an \u201cagreement for cooperation in the examination of protection requests\u201d with the US to accept African migrants \u201cwho may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin.\u201d The ministry said individuals without criminal records would be admitted under the \u201ctemporary arrangement,\u201d which forms part of broader bilateral cooperation between Kampala and Washington.
\nJudicial actions and widespread pushback
\nThe Department of Homeland Security\u2019s decision in February to extend rapid deportations to third countries triggered a class-action lawsuit from immigrant rights groups representing people who risked removal without notice or due process.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US secures deal to deport migrants to African state \u2013 CBS<\/p>\n
In April, US District Judge Brian Murphy ruled that such transfers \u201cunquestionably\u201d violated constitutional protections, but in June the US Supreme Court\u2019s conservative majority overturned that decision, allowing the White House to proceed. The DHS hailed the ruling as a \u201cmajor victory,\u201d enabling deportations to countries willing to accept people whose home states refuse them.
\nAlthough the financial incentives remain unclear, the accords have drawn sharp criticism from rights groups and prompted an unusually strong rebuke from the AU\u2019s human-rights body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (ACHPR).The Trump administration\u2019s arrangements with Uganda, Rwanda, Eswatini, and South Sudan \u201care part of a logic of externalizing migration responsibilities and expose the persons concerned to increased risks of violations of their fundamental rights,\u201d the ACHPR said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Africa pivot: Leverage, not generosity<\/p>\n
The Commission argued that the deals sidestep continental consultation, shift burdens onto vulnerable states, and may contravene core legal \u201cprinciples of non-refoulement, the prohibition of collective expulsions,\u201d and the rights to dignity and asylum.
\nIt has advised Rwanda, Uganda, and other African states against adopting policies likely to transform the continent into a \u201cdumping zone,\u201d urging governments instead to ensure transparency in agreements and guarantee the safety of transferred migrants.
\nWhat do UN agencies say?
\nUN human rights experts warned in July that the US resuming third-country deportations raises serious human rights risks, particularly around protection, due process, and potential chain refoulement.
\nThey have urged Washington to \u201crefrain from any further removals to third countries, to ensure effective access to legal assistance for those facing deportation, and for all such procedures to be subject to independent judicial oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deporting migrants to third countries shifts responsibility abroad and increases the chance of rights abuses, the organization has warned What began as \u201cdiscreet\u201d migration deals between Washington and a handful…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-politics","category-society"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t