The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has received the first set of deportees from the United States (US).
Fifteen (15) people, who are reportedly from South America, have arrived in the Central African country.
This is the first batch of an unconfirmed number of people that America has expelled which the African country had agreed to received.
The government in Kinshasa had made known that, the stay of the deportees in DR Congo is only temporary and that, the US government is sponsoring “their reception, support and care”.
Deportees from the US have already been dispatched to other African countries encompassing, Ghana, South Sudan and Eswatini.
The move by the US is part of the crackdown on immigration.
Earlier in April, when information of the deportation agreement was first made known, the government of DR Congo said, the decision to receive what are known as third-country migrants – that is those who come from neither the sending nor receiving nation – is in parallel with its commitment to human dignity, to safeguarding the rights of migrants and international solidarity.
The scheme was not a “permanent relocation mechanism or an outsourcing of migration policies”, the Congolese authorities said.
The US State Department said that while it did not make a statement on “diplomatic communications with other governments” the administration stayed “unwavering” in its “commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security”.
Since his move into the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump has deported dozens of people to third countries as part of his staunch approach to immigration.
Under Trump, the US has facilitated peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, although, implementation of the deal remains a problem.
