US Deports 15 South American Migrants to DR Congo Under Contentious Agreement

Fifteen people who were deported from the United States have arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The deportees landed in the capital, Kinshasa, overnight Thursday to Friday as part of an agreement between the US and the DRC.

The group includes nationals from Peru and Ecuador, with seven women among them, according to a diplomatic source. An official at the DRC migration agency confirmed the arrivals but did not provide details.

US lawyer Alma David, who represents one of the deportees, said the deportees are all from Latin America and the Congolese government plans to keep them in the country for a short period. All the deportees have legal protection from US judges shielding them against being returned to their home countries, David told The Associated Press.

The DRC Ministry of Communications announced earlier this month that it would temporarily accept migrants deported from the US. It said that Washington would cover the costs involved, and that facilities had been prepared near Kinshasa to accommodate them.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the DRC asked the UN agency for humanitarian assistance with the migrants. The IOM may also offer assisted voluntary return to those migrants who request it.

The US policy has drawn criticism from rights groups over the legality of sending deportees to countries where they are not from and could face human rights violations. In some cases, the deportees have been later sent back to their home countries despite receiving legal protection from US courts to prevent that from happening.

The Trump administration is thought to have spent at least $40m to deport about 300 migrants to third countries up to the end of January, according to a report compiled by Democrats on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Countries have received lump sums ranging from $4.7m to $7.5m to receive deportees.