ABUJA, Nigeria – A US deportation flight was headed to the Central African Republic (CAR) on June 12, according to a flight tracker and lawyer familiar with the case, carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia.
Such “third-country” deportations have become a staple of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, even as their legality is challenged by lawsuits in both the United States and abroad.
The US State Department advisory for the violence-wracked CAR reads: “Do not travel to Central African Republic for any reason.”
Trump has described Iran, with whom Washington is currently at war, as a “terrorist regime” – but is still moving to deport nationals who fled the country, including at least two Iranian women, The New York Times reported.
The flight took off from Alexandria, Louisiana, on the evening of June 11 and is first set to stop in Ghana, which is itself a hub for third-country deportations, according to the ICE Flight Monitor, affiliated with non-profit organisation Human Rights First.
It was unclear if some people would be taken off the plane there, or if they would all continue to the Central African Republic, said US immigration attorney Alma David.
The Trump administration has expanded who is targeted for deportation – including people with legal protections – and where they can be sent.
Deportees and lawyers have described harsh treatment in Ghana and indefinite detention in Eswatini.
From Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, another African hub, some people have been sent back home to countries that US judges ruled they faced danger in.
It was not clear what would happen to the deportees once in the CAR, in what appears to be Bangui’s first accord with Washington, which has made a slew of deportation deals in Africa and elsewhere.
The Central African authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
Among those being sent to the poor, violence-wracked country are people with legal protections, including those with “withholding of removal”, a status that carries weaker rights than asylum but nonetheless has been considered a “win” in immigration court under previous administrations.
“The folks headed to CAR are mainly withholding grantees from a variety of countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Georgia,” David, the immigration attorney, told AFP.
In recent years, a United Nations peacekeeping mission, Rwandan troops and Russian mercenaries from the notorious Wagner group have helped to improve the CAR’s security situation.
But anti-government fighters and armed groups are still present throughout the unstable, mineral-rich country. AFP
