Tag

#third-country deportation

Transfer of individuals to countries other than their country of origin for detention or imprisonment, often circumventing domestic legal protections and violating non-refoulement obligations.

3 incidents

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Secret Cameroon Deportation Agreement and Torture of Deportees

The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement, including people with US court protections against return to their home countries. Cameroon detained them without legal basis, and journalists attempting to document conditions were arrested. HRW says the transfers to a country with a record of torture in detention breach the prohibition on refoulement.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Secretive $7.5 Million Deal Sends 66 Deportees to Equatorial Guinea, Then On to the Countries They Fled

A secret agreement with one of the world's most repressive regimes has sent 66 deportees to Equatorial Guinea, where they were detained and, in the case of all 29 on the first two flights, returned to their countries of origin, including people US judges had found would face persecution or torture there. The $7.5 million deal is part of a broader $40 million third-country deportation program targeting migrants from countries that will not accept their return.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Third-Country Deportations to Rwanda, Ghana, and South Sudan

The US paid Rwanda, Ghana, Eswatini, and South Sudan to accept deportees who are not their nationals, in deals a federal judge ruled unconstitutional. HRW called the expulsion agreements violations of international human rights law, and domestic lawsuits in Ghana challenge the deal's legality.