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The Trump administration is preparing to deport a group of Iranian asylum seekers and other migrants from the Central African Republic (CAR) under a new third country deal, according to reports.
The first flight under the program may depart on Thursday and is expected to carry around 20 people.
According to Reuters, the plane includes people from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Administrations have relied heavily on these third-country deportation agreements as a legal means of removing migrants who cannot be legally returned to their countries of origin.
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The Trump administration is preparing to deport a group of Iranian asylum seekers and other migrants to the Central African Republic under a new third country deal. (Pacome PABANJI / AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier, the Federal authorities made a similar evacuation agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
CAR is surrounded by Chad to the north, Sudan and South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo to the south, and Cameroon to the west.
Since gaining independence from France in 1960, the CAR has seen decades of political instability including six coups and weak government authority with armed gangs fueling violence and the risk of mass atrocities against civilians.
President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who was re-elected for a third term in the December elections, has relied on Russia for security assistance while showing interest in working with Western countries to develop the country’s mining sector.
Under the new US deal, hundreds of immigrants could eventually be sent there, prompting a backlash from immigration advocates.
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The Central African Republic is surrounded by Chad to the north, Sudan and South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo to the south, and Cameroon to the west. (Pacome PABANJI / AFP via Getty Images)
Among those scheduled for the upcoming flight are two Iranian women who arrived in the US in November 2024 and received a “withholding of removal” from a US immigration judge.
According to their lawyer, Emily Trostle, the two women face the risk of torture and persecution if they are forcibly returned to Iran. One of them is a baptized convert; the other is a pro-democracy activist, Trostle said.
Both women were arrested after arriving in the United States in November 2024, and applied for asylum in the United States when they received protection through deportation from an immigration judge, Trostle told the media.
The latest deal was reportedly finalized when a US delegation visited the capital Bangui in May, Reuters said.
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Preliminary information about the total number of migrants, specific countries, and the duration of subsequent flights was not made available at the time.
Once they arrive in CAR, the deportees are expected to be housed in houses in Bangui and will not face immediate repatriation.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which received a grant of R85 million from the US this year, has confirmed that it will provide voluntary assistance, after the arrival of migrants at the express request of the Central African government.
The agency noted that it remains completely uninvolved in the actual removal.
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At least eight African countries, including Eswatini, DRC, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, have taken in US deportees, often in exchange for financial or material support.
The State Department and Trostle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
