By Agency Staff
Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) government said on Sunday it will receive deportees starting this month, but did not say how many it has agreed to take.
The arrangement will be paid for by the US, with no cost to the Congolese government, the statement said.
The DRC government said facilities have been prepared near the capital Kinshasa to accommodate the deportees. It did not say how many deportees were due to arrive under the deal.
The agreement with the Trump administration about receiving deportees is the latest reached with African governments. The US has sent deportees to Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini, drawing criticism from legal experts and rights groups.
Some of the migrants have been forced out of the US despite receiving court-ordered protection meant to prevent their deportation.
The talks with President Félix Tshisekedi’s government, also described by three UN sources and two diplomats briefed by US officials, underscore Washington’s growing reliance on third-country deportations to speed up removals of migrants who entered or remained in the US without authorisation.
A source at the UN’s International Organisation for Migration familiar with the discussions told Reuters the plan could involve migrants from South America, including Venezuelans.
Such arrangements are often negotiated quietly, with limited public detail on their scope or terms.
A state department spokesperson said Washington had “no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments”.
A spokesperson for the DRC’s presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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