UN EXPERTS WARN US DEPORTATIONS TO THIRD COUNTRIES BREACH RIGHTS

More than 20 independent UN human rights experts have warned that the US policy of deporting migrants to third countries with which they have no ties is triggering a "cascade of human rights violations". In a joint statement issued on Monday, the experts said the arrangements were increasing the risk of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance, and breaching the principle of non-refoulement in countries that agree to accept people removed from the US. The experts, who advise the UN Human Rights Council and are backed by a special rapporteur for the African Commission, said they had contacted the US government and each of the 35 countries involved to raise their concerns and call for an immediate halt to the policy. They said the harms caused were "no longer hypothetical" and that for migrants in situations of particular vulnerability, the consequences "can be deadly".

Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the US government has signed deals with more than 35 countries, nearly a third of them in Africa, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and South Sudan, offering money for them to take in migrants. According to Refugees International and Human Rights First, about 20,000 people have been taken by bus to Mexico, while more than 5,000 others have been flown to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and central Asia. Figures on the total number deported vary: the UN experts put the number of third-country nationals deported at more than 23,000, while an investigation by the non-profit group Forbidden Stories and a consortium of journalists put the figure above 25,000 by the end of August. The experts said those sent to unfamiliar countries faced a traumatising and isolating experience that could compound harms already suffered before they fled to the US, including further violence or discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or human rights advocacy.

The Trump administration has said its deportation policy is focused on removing people with criminal convictions from the US. The UN experts' statement calls for the US and the 35 countries involved to halt the arrangements immediately. A separate investigation by journalists, including reporters from the consortium coordinated by the Forbidden Stories network, has documented accounts from people who have been deported under the scheme.