US Deports Migrants from Iran, Afghanistan to Central African Republic Amid Outcry
A US deportation flight carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia landed in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Friday evening, lawyers and activists confirmed. The arrival marks the latest stage in President Donald Trump’s expanding “third-country” deportation program, which sends undocumented foreigners to nations where they have no prior ties.
Notably, the Central African Republic has now joined a growing list of African countries accepting deportees from the United States, even though the US State Department itself advises against travel there “for any reason.”
Iranians among Deportees Despite Legal Protections
Although Washington considers Iran a “terrorist regime” and remains at war with it, authorities placed at least four Iranian women on the flight, according to their lawyer. Both had been granted “withholding of removal,” a protective status that nonetheless offers fewer rights than asylum.
“We fear the US will ultimately force them to return to the countries they originally fled,” their attorney, Emily Trostle, told AFP, pointing to a pattern seen elsewhere across Africa.
The flight departed Alexandria, Louisiana, on Thursday, then made a stopover in Ghana before continuing to Bangui, with immigration lawyer Alma David saying it remained unclear whether some passengers disembarked in Ghana.
Uncertainty Surrounds Deportees’ Status on Arrival
Although Rwandan troops, Russian mercenaries and a UN peacekeeping mission have helped stabilise the country in recent years, armed groups continue operating throughout the region. Consequently, the fate awaiting these deportees remains uncertain.
Political scientist Paul Crescent Beninga told AFP that authorities have offered no clarity on whether arrivals are in transit or eligible to seek asylum, adding that “the government isn’t communicating.”
A State Department spokesman reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to “end illegal and mass immigration” but declined to discuss the agreement’s terms. Meanwhile, Trostle said the US is “removing deportees and abandoning them in a country where they have no status, no connection and no support network.”
Separately, a lawsuit filed last week with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights seeks to halt similar US deportations to Equatorial Guinea.
