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Sierra Leone has agreed to instrumentality successful hundreds of West African migrants who are being deported by the United States, its Foreign Minister told Reuters, the latest specified woody by the Trump medication arsenic it tries to accelerate removals.
The archetypal formation of alleged third-country deportees volition get successful Sierra Leone connected May 20, Timothy Kabba said, transporting 25 nationals from Senegal, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria.
“Sierra Leone signed a Third Country National Agreement with the U.S. to judge 300 ECOWAS citizens from the U.S. per year with a maximum of 25 a month," Mr. Kabba said, referring to the West African determination bloc.
The U.S. has antecedently sent third-country deportees to African states including Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini, drafting disapproval from ineligible experts and rights groups implicit the ineligible basis for the transfers and the attraction of deportees sent to countries wherever they are not nationals.
Deportees to Africa person been forced home
Sierra Leone's statement to judge lone deportees from ECOWAS countries is akin to Ghana's. Reuters has antecedently reported connected however deportees sent to Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere connected the continent person past been forced to instrumentality to their location countries contempt receiving court-ordered extortion in the U.S. meant to forestall that from happening.
It is unclear whether the deportees sent to Sierra Leone volition beryllium allowed to enactment there. A government spokesperson did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Saturday (May 16, 2026). Mr. Kabba did not accidental what Sierra Leone would get successful instrumentality for taking successful the deportees.
“It’s portion of our bilateral narration with the U.S. to assistance with its migration policy," helium said. In a study published successful February, Democrats connected the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the full outgo of third-country removals was unknown, but that much than $32 cardinal had been sent straight to 5 countries - Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini and Palau.
The U.S. and Sierra Leone person been astatine likelihood connected deportations before. In 2017, during the archetypal Trump administration, Washington said the U.S. Embassy successful Freetown would deny tourer and concern visas to Sierra Leonean Foreign Ministry and Immigration officials due to the fact that the authorities was refusing to instrumentality successful Sierra Leonean deportees.
The State Department did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the caller statement with Sierra Leone. The White House and the State Department person antecedently said the deportations are lawful.
