DR Congo to receive third-country deportees from US under new deal

By Edna Mohamed, Reuters and The Associated PressMonday April 6, 2026

Migrants deported last year by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025 [File Ariana Cubillos/AP]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) says it is set to take in “third-country” nationals deported from the United States under a new arrangement with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

According to a statement released Sunday by the Congolese Ministry of Communications, the country will start receiving deportees this month. The ministry did not say how many people are expected to arrive.

The government described the deal as a “temporary” measure, saying it reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity”.

Under the agreement, the United States will cover the deportation costs, leaving the Congolese government with no financial burden, the statement said.

The announcement lands as the Trump administration presses ahead with efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda while also seeking US access to Congo’s critical minerals.

Experts criticise third-country agreements

The United States has already transferred third-country deportees to several African nations, including Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini, prompting criticism from legal experts and rights advocates who question the legal grounds for the removals and the conditions facing people sent to countries where they are not citizens.

Last week, legal groups in Uganda said a dozen deportees were expected to arrive there following a deal with Trump.

In a statement, Asiimwe Anthony, vice president of the Uganda Law Society, said the organisation had filed a court challenge to the deportation.

“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,” Anthony said.

“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.”

The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants says third-country deportations have been “systematically pursued” since February 2025.

“Individuals subject to third-country deportation typically have no choice in where they are sent, a practice that raises serious due process and human rights concerns, particularly when the receiving country may not be safe,” the committee states.

According to a report from the Democratic staff of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Trump administration has spent at least $40m to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own.