- Immigrant Times
- Oct 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 29
African countries are divided over migrant deportation deals with the US
Four nations have begun accepting deportees from the US, while others reject the policy as coercive and indecent
By The Immigrant Times
Don’t deport, educate: Heman Bekele, an Ethiopian immigrant, is Time Magazine’s ‘Kid of the Year’, following his being named America’s Top Young Scientist in 2023. His ground-breaking creation, a soap that treats skin cancer, has the potential to revolutionise healthcare accessibility worldwide. In the meantime, the President Trump administration is intensifying deportation efforts.
October 2025: A potentially consequential shift is reshaping migration politics across Africa. Over the past year, the United States has reached controversial agreements with several African nations to accept deportees — including individuals who are not their citizens — while others have refused outright. Washington describes these pacts as “migration partnership frameworks” designed to manage deportations humanely. But rights groups and some African officials view them as opaque arrangements that outsource America’s migration enforcement and risk violating international norms.
Under President Trump’s second term, the US administration has intensified deportation efforts, including agreements with African countries to accept deported migrants, even those with tenuous ties to the receiving country.
While in a poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, more than half of Americans are opposed to forced deportations of migrants to African countries, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the policy as a necessary measure to uphold immigration law and deter unlawful entry, emphasising bilateral cooperation with African governments.
Advocacy groups like the American Immigration Council and Human Rights Watch have condemned third-country deportations as outsourcing cruelty, warning of legal limbo and unsafe conditions for deportees.
African countries that have accepted deportees from the US
So far, four African countries, Eswatini, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Ghana, have accepted deportees from the US, according to reports by Reuters, the Associated Press, and Human Rights Watch. A fifth, Uganda, has signed a conditional agreement but has yet to receive significant numbers.
Eswatini has taken in between 120 and 160 deportees since mid-2025 under a bilateral deal. Local lawyers have filed court challenges questioning the legality of the transfers and the lack of transparency around who was sent and why.
Rwanda agreed in August 2025 to accept up to 250 deportees in a pilot program. Around 40 to 60 have already arrived. Kigali maintains that each case undergoes proper vetting, though human rights observers have raised concerns about due process and long-term status.
South Sudan was one of the first to cooperate, taking in eight deportees earlier this year, most of them third-country nationals. Ghana joined in September, receiving about 14 to 20 individuals from across West Africa. Officials described the move as humanitarian cooperation, though critics suspect political motivation linked to foreign aid.
Uganda has set conditions
Uganda has agreed in principle to accept certain deportees but with strict conditions: no minors, no criminal records, and prior background vetting. As of October 2025, only a handful, fewer than five, had been relocated. Kampala’s cautious stance reflects wider regional unease about becoming a destination for people expelled from the West.
Countries that have said NO
Other governments have taken a harder line. Burkina Faso’s transitional authorities rejected US proposals outright, calling them indecent and incompatible with national values. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has also refused to accept deportees who are not its citizens, citing sovereignty concerns and the risk of public backlash.
The US government is seeking additional willing partners
Despite resistance, US government officials continue to seek partners across the African continent. Diplomats have approached at least five additional African governments, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon, about potential cooperation. None has confirmed agreements, but discussions are said to be ongoing.
Analysts say Washington has offered incentives such as development aid, migration-management funding, and broader bilateral support, echoing similar European strategies, including the UK’s Rwanda asylum deal. The US was testing the same model, exporting deportation in exchange for development support, one migration researcher told The Guardian.
Rights organisations issue warnings
Rights organisations warn that the deals raise serious ethical and legal concerns. Human Rights Watch says deportees may face detention, statelessness, or mistreatment after arrival. “This outsourcing of deportation blurs the line between partnership and coercion,” the group said in a September statement, urging both Washington and African capitals to disclose the full terms of the agreements.
Local activists in Eswatini, Rwanda, and Ghana say governments have provided no clear legal framework for receiving non-citizens expelled from another country.
Fazit
An estimated 230 to 250 people have been deported from the United States to Africa since 2024, the majority to Eswatini and Rwanda. While the numbers remain small, the symbolism is large.
Supporters of the deals argue they demonstrate shared responsibility for global migration challenges. Critics see them as evidence of unequal power dynamics between Africa and the West, a new chapter in the externalisation of border control.
As negotiations expand, Africa is increasingly divided between those willing to cooperate for diplomatic or economic reasons and those defending sovereignty and principle. Whether these experimental deportation partnerships endure or collapse under scrutiny will depend on what happens next, in Washington, and in African capitals where the debate is only beginning.
Methodology: The research was carried out in October 2025.
Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; Human Rights Watch; Council on Foreign Relations; US Public Broadcasting Service, The Guardian; African Vibes; African Affairs Unit; Shaf Center; Marist Institute for Public Opinions; Time Magazine
Further reading: A teenager's journey from West Africa to France || Mauritania accused of human rights abuses || Sudan's looming refugee crisis ||
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