By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Liberia has formalised agreement with the United States to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the Washington in the coming year, with an initial group of 20 deportees expected to arrive the West African nation on Thursday, Liberian authorities said on Tuesday.
It is the latest of such transfer agreement reached by the President Donald Trump’s administration with an African nation, to repatriate people it can’t legally send back to their countries of origin.
The deportees have in most cases obtained legal protection against deportation after U.S. immigration judges ruled they risked torture or other abuses in third countries.
Washington has defended the deals as lawful, though rights groups and advocates have said the details of the deals are opaque and many of the deportees are ultimately repatriated.
Deportees to Liberia “will include citizens or nationals of African and Western Hemisphere countries who are medically authorized to travel,” the Liberian government said in the statement.
It also said some of them “may wish to seek asylum in Liberia.”
Other African countries to accept third-country deportees include Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
