The Democratic Republic of Congo is due to receive a first contingent of third-country deportees from the United States this week, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The group will include more than 30 people who are not Congolese nationals, and at least some are understood to be from Central and South America, one source and U.S. court documents indicate.
Sources provided differing headcounts: one said the group would number 37, while another put the figure at 45. Officials expect the deportees to arrive in the Central African country by Friday. They will arrive as part of an agreement with the U.S. administration that was announced on April 5, two days after earlier reporting that the two countries were negotiating a deal for Congo to receive third-country removals.
The timing intersects with two other U.S. initiatives involving Congo, sources say: efforts to implement a U.S.-brokered peace arrangement intended to address violence tied to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo, and a strategic partnership that grants the United States preferential access to Congo’s critical minerals. The convergence of these developments has prompted scrutiny from human rights organizations and opposition figures in Congo.
Logistics and accommodation
Three sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation, said the deportees will be housed in a hotel located near Kinshasa’s main airport. The site is slated to accommodate them for a temporary period of 10 to 15 days, one source said, but that source did not have information on plans for the individuals after that interval.
According to a diplomat and a senior humanitarian source, the hotel will remain open to other guests while hosting the deportees. The group is expected to be lodged in single rooms and given two meals per day. Security will be provided by Congo’s national police together with a private security firm. Sources also said the deportees will be free to move around during their stay.
Third-party assistance and legal context
The International Organization for Migration, a U.N.-related agency, has been identified by two sources as prepared to provide assistance to the deportees after their arrival, if requested by Congolese authorities. The IOM told Reuters it had no role in carrying out the deportations themselves, which it said were arrangements between the two governments, but that it could supply post-arrival humanitarian support at the host government’s request.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement informed lawyers for at least four migrants that those individuals would be deported to Congo this week, and Reuters identified migrants from Colombia, Peru, Chile and Guatemala among those expected to be affected. A federal court order dated April 8, reviewed by Reuters, indicated the U.S. government planned to remove a Peruvian migrant to Congo. That individual had been denied asylum, yet had previously been granted protection against return to Peru because of concerns about persecution.
Precedent and critique
The United States has in the past sent third-country deportees to a number of African states, including Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini. These transfers have drawn criticism from legal experts and rights organizations, who have questioned the legal grounds for sending people to countries where they are not nationals and raised concerns about the treatment and welfare of those relocated.
Some prior transfers have resulted in deportees subsequently being returned to their countries of origin despite having obtained court-ordered protections in the United States intended to prevent such returns. Human rights advocates and opposition politicians in Congo have voiced concern about both the principle and practicalities of the current operation.
Official responses and outstanding questions
A spokesperson for the Congolese government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Kinshasa has previously emphasized it will not provide funding as part of the arrangement to receive third-country deportees. A State Department spokesperson declined to provide details, saying the U.S. had "no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments."
Key operational questions remain unanswered in public reports: the ultimate number of deportees the United States might send to Congo under the arrangement; the plan for the migrants after the hotel accommodation period lapses; and the longer-term legal and humanitarian processes that will determine the deportees' status in or beyond Congo.
Humanitarian organizations and diplomats involved in related work note the IOM has previously supported third-country deportees sent from the U.S. to Eswatini and Cameroon, and stands ready to provide similar post-arrival assistance in Congo if formally requested by local authorities. Beyond that, the sources say, concrete details about the migrants' next steps remain limited.
The arrival of this first group marks the operational start of a politically sensitive mechanism of third-country transfers that will likely continue to attract attention from legal, humanitarian and political observers as additional details emerge.