Sierra Leone has reached an agreement with the United States to receive hundreds of West African migrants facing deportation from America, according to the country’s foreign minister in a recent interview with Reuters.
The initial flight carrying deportees will land in Sierra Leone on May 20, bringing 25 individuals from Senegal, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria, foreign minister Timothy Kabba announced.
“Sierra Leone signed a Third Country National Agreement with the U.S. to accept 300 ECOWAS citizens from the U.S. per year with a maximum of 25 a month,” Kabba explained, referencing the West African regional organization.
This marks the latest arrangement by the Trump administration as it works to speed up deportation processes. America has previously transported deportees to various African nations including Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini.
Legal experts and human rights organizations have criticized these transfers, questioning both the legal foundation for sending people to nations where they lack citizenship and how these deportees are treated upon arrival.
Sierra Leone’s decision to only accept deportees from ECOWAS member countries mirrors Ghana’s approach. Previous Reuters investigations revealed that deportees sent to Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and other African destinations were subsequently forced to return to their home nations, despite having received court-ordered protection in America designed to prevent such outcomes.
Whether deportees arriving in Sierra Leone will be permitted to remain there remains uncertain. A government spokesperson did not provide an immediate response when asked for comment on Saturday.
Kabba declined to specify what Sierra Leone would receive in exchange for accepting the deportees. “It’s part of our bilateral relationship with the U.S. to assist with its immigration policy,” he stated.
A February report from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee revealed that while the total expense of third-country deportations remains unknown, over $32 million has been transferred directly to five nations: Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini and Palau.
Sierra Leone and the United States have previously clashed over deportation issues. During the first Trump presidency in 2017, Washington announced that the American Embassy in Freetown would stop issuing tourist and business visas to Sierra Leonean foreign ministry and immigration officials because the government was declining to accept Sierra Leonean deportees.
The State Department has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding this new arrangement with Sierra Leone. Both the White House and State Department have maintained in the past that these deportations comply with legal requirements.
