Congo to receive third-country deportees from the US under new deal

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo will receive some migrants as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program, its government said Sunday, the latest such African nation to receive migrants being deported from the U.S.

The deportees will start arriving in Congo this month, the Congolese Ministry of Communications said in a statement, without further details on the date or the number of deportees expected.

It described the arrangement as a “temporary” one that reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.” It would come with zero costs to the government with the U.S. covering the needed logistics, it said.

The U.S. has struck such third-country deportation deals with at least seven other African nations, many of them among countries hit the most by the Trump administration’s policies that have restricted trade, aid and migration.

The Trump administration has spent at least $40 million to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to a report released recently by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

                        Related Stories
                    
                

        
    
    
    
    







    
        

                
                    



    
        


  




    




    




    




    




    




    




    




    



    




    
    
    
    

    

    





    
        

            
            
            Secret Service investigates reports of gunfire near Lafayette Park across from the White House
        

    

  

    

    
    







    
    
        
        
    
    
    
    
        

            1 MIN READ
        

    
    
    
    







    

    

    

    

    




                
            

    
        

                
                    



    
        


  




    




    




    




    




    




    




    




    



    




    
    
    
    

    

    





    
        

            
            
            Eulogy for the CIA Factbook: The free standard for world facts, long an educational staple, is gone
        

    

  

    

    
    







    
    
        
        
    
    
    
    
        

            5 MIN READ

21

            US aviator rescued as Trump vows strikes on Iran’s infrastructure if Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened
        

    

  

    

    
    







    
    
        
        
    
    
    
    
        

            5 MIN READ

577

Lawyers and activists have raised questions over the nature of the deals with countries in Africa and elsewhere. Several of the African nations that have signed such deals have notoriously repressive governments and poor human rights records — including Eswatini, South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea.

Read More 

A key bone of contention in many such agreements is that they involve many migrants with protection orders from a U.S. immigration judge not to be returned to their home countries over major safety concerns.

Congo’s government said no automatic transfer of the deportees is planned, adding: “Each situation will be subject to individual review in accordance with the laws of the Republic and national security requirements.”