FIFTEEN people have arrived in DR Congo after being expelled from the United States as part of an immigration crackdown, the UN confirmed on Friday, with a local source saying they were from Peru and Ecuador.
The arrivals in Kinshasa overnight Thursday to Friday 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.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 AFP, 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 AFP, Congolese authorities have not so far confirmed the arrival of the first foreign migrants.
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.