Sierra Leone receives first group of West African deportees from US

By Umaru Fofana

FREETOWN, May 20 (Reuters) - ‌A plane transporting ​nine ​West Africans deported by the Trump administration arrived in Sierra Leone on Wednesday, part of Washington's latest deal with an African country aimed ‌at accelerating removals.

• Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba told Reuters last week that ⁠Freetown had agreed to take in 300 West African migrants annually who were being deported by ‌the U.S., with no more than ‌25 arriving each month.

• The deportees who arrived on Wednesday included seven men and two women from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea and Nigeria, said Patrick Robin, head ​of Kenvah Solutions, the private contractor hired to house the deportees at two hotels near the airport.

• It was unclear how long the deportees would be ⁠able to stay in Sierra Leone. A government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. "We will look ​after them in a dignified and comfortable way for up to two weeks," Robin said, adding that in "exceptional circumstances" some could stay ​in the facilities for 30 days.

• Sierra Leone's arrangement ‌to accept only deportees from West African countries is similar to Ghana's. Reuters has previously reported on how deportees sent to ⁠Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere on the continent have then been forced to return to their home countries despite receiving court-ordered protection in the U.S. meant to prevent that from happening.

• ⁠Robin said "most of" those who arrived in Sierra Leone on Wednesday said they wanted to go ​home. However, a Reuters witness said at least one of the deportees appeared to resist getting off the flight on Wednesday before being persuaded to do so.

• It is not clear what, ‌if anything, Sierra Leone is getting in exchange for taking in the deportees.

• In a report published in February, Democrats on ‌the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the total cost of third-country removals was unknown, but ⁠that more than $32 million had been ‌sent directly to five ​countries - Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini and Palau.

• A State Department spokesperson declined to comment.

(Reporting by Umaru Fofana in Freetown; Writing by ‌Robbie Corey-Boulet)

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