•Some deported migrants from US
Fifteen people have arrived in DR Congo after being expelled from the United States as part of an immigration crackdown, the UN confirmed yesterday, with a local source saying they were from Peru and Ecuador.
The arrivals in Kinshasa overnight Thursday to yesterday are the first under the deal to land in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the latest African nation to accept expelled migrants from the US, reports AFP.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, his administration has negotiated several expulsion agreements despite fierce criticism from rights groups.
The countries accepting the deportees generally give little detail about their fate.
They are often not from those countries.
Washington has previously sent foreigners to Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Rwanda, South Sudan, Cameroon and Eswatini.
The DRC asked the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help with the migrants, the UN agency said.
“IOM has been requested by the government of the DRC to provide humanitarian assistance to 15 migrants removed by the United States to the DRC on April 17,” an agency spokesman told our correspondent, without providing details on the migrants’ nationalities.
“In addition to offering assistance based on needs and specific assessments, IOM may also offer assisted voluntary return to those migrants who request it, in line with its mandate and applicable legal frameworks.”
Seven women and eight men arrived on a flight from the United States, which landed just before midnight at Ndjili airport in the capital, a source close to the Congolese presidency said.
They are originally from Peru and Ecuador, the source said.
Other migrants expelled by the United States are due to arrive soon in Kinshasa, in groups of around 50 a month, sources close to the matter said.
The total number expected to be taken in by the DRC is currently unknown.
The arrangement negotiated between Washington and several African countries aims to remove migrants from American soil quickly, before sending them back to their countries of origin, one of the sources said.
The accord with the DRC comes after an agreement paving the way for Washington to gain access to the country’s rich mineral resources, which are crucial for the electronics industry.
The US has in return mediated talks aimed at ending years of conflict in eastern DRC, although efforts have yet to stop the fighting on the ground.
Contacted by our correspondent, Congolese authorities have not so far confirmed the arrival of the first foreign migrants.
‘Opaque Deals’
In the DRC, the announcement of the immigration deal “came as a surprise” because it was handled with little transparency, said Albert Malukisa, research director at the Congolese Ebuteli think tank.
“What does the DRC gain financially in return? That’s not clear.”
But he said Kinshasa was positioning itself as a “model partner” to continue benefitting from US support.
In early April, the DRC’s communications ministry announced the launch of a “temporary reception system for third-country nationals covered by US migration arrangements”.
It said the Congolese treasury would bear no financial cost, as logistical and technical support would be provided by the US government.
Authorities also said preparations had been made for reception facilities and supervision. Several possible sites have been considered, according to a source close to the matter, but no details have been disclosed.
Yesterday, police officers were stationed outside one of the sites mentioned, a few kilometres from the Kinshasa airport, our correspondent reported.
Most residents of Kinshasa, a city of more than 17 million people, lack access to running water or electricity and nearly three-quarters of Congolese live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
Human Rights Watch said in September that US deportations carried out under such “opaque deals” violate international law and should be rejected.
