DRC to receive US deportees under new deal

The Democratic Republic of the Congo will start receiving “third-country” nationals deported from the United States this month, the Congolese Ministry of Communications said on Sunday. The government described the arrangement as temporary and said the US will cover all costs.

The deportees are part of a new agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump. The ministry did not disclose how many individuals are expected to arrive but said the deal reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.”

The announcement comes amid US efforts to broker peace between the DRC and Rwanda and secure access to Congolese minerals.

Legal experts and human rights groups have criticised third-country deportations, pointing to concerns over due process and the safety of individuals sent to countries where they are not nationals. The US has previously sent deportees to countries including Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Eswatini.

In Uganda, where a similar deal is in place, the Uganda Law Society challenged the deportations in court. Vice president Asiimwe Anthony said: “Our perspective of the matter is broader than a single act of deportation. We view it as but one gust from the ill winds of transnational repression that are blowing across our world. This development and the attendant illegalities that accompany it are reminiscent of a dark past that the global family of humanity supposedly put behind itself in the pursuit of the ideal that every human being is born equal.”

According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, third-country deportations have been systematically pursued since February 2025, raising serious human rights concerns. A Democratic staff report from the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee stated the Trump administration has spent at least $40 million to deport around 300 migrants to countries other than their own.