&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump administration deports Iranian migrants to nation US warns against visiting 'for any reason'")
A US deportation flight carrying migrants from countries including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia landed in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Friday (Jun 12), according to lawyers and activists familiar with the operation. The flight marks the latest example of the Trump administration's increasingly controversial practice of deporting migrants to third countries with which they have no apparent connection.
The aircraft departed from Alexandria, Louisiana, on Thursday evening and made a scheduled stop in Ghana before arriving in the Central African capital of Bangui later on Friday, according to ICE Flight Monitor, a tracking project affiliated with Human Rights First.
Also read | US plans to deport Iranian migrants to Central African Republic despite persecution, torture concerns
Deported despite 'withholding of removal' protection
Lawyers involved in the case told AFP that several of those on board had previously received "withholding of removal", a form of legal protection that prevents deportation to a person's home country if they are deemed likely to face persecution or danger there. While the status offers fewer protections than asylum, it has historically shielded recipients from being returned to countries they fled.
Among those reportedly scheduled for removal were at least two Iranian women. Their attorney, Emily Trostle, said there were concerns that deportees could eventually be sent back to their countries of origin through onward removals.
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The deportation comes as the Trump administration continues to widen both the scope of its immigration crackdown and the range of destinations used for removals. Washington maintains that migrants granted withholding of removal cannot be sent to their home countries, but can legally be deported elsewhere.
Also read | World's Safest Countries in 2026: Did India make it to the top 10? Here's where it ranks
'Do not...for any reason': What will happen to the deportees in Central African Republic?
Questions remain over what will happen to the deportees in the Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest and most fragile nations. The US State Department currently advises Americans not to travel to the country "for any reason" due to security concerns. "Do not travel to Central African Republic for any reason," reads the advisory.
Although security has improved in recent years with support from UN peacekeepers, Rwandan troops and Russian-linked Wagner forces, armed groups continue to operate across parts of the mineral-rich nation.
As per the report, little is known about the agreement that allowed the transfer. Central African authorities have not publicly explained whether the migrants will remain in the country, be allowed to seek asylum, or be moved elsewhere. Washington argues that the "withholding of removal" only protects migrants from being sent to their home countries. However, some people have been further deported to their home countries, where they face persecution and torture threats, from Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, another African hub.
