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The Trump administration has struck a deal with the Central African Republic to deport a group of migrants, including Iranian asylum seekers who had won protection against removal to their home country, two lawyers and a US official said Thursday.
Among those being scheduled for deportation are two Iranian women who had secured withholding of removal – a form of protection granted to individuals facing persecution if returned to their homeland, said Emily Trostle, the women’s attorney.
The first flight under the arrangement could depart as early as Thursday, carrying roughly 20 people. Alongside the Iranians, Syrians and Afghans are also on the manifest, according to the US official.
The Trump administration has increasingly turned to third-country deportation agreements to expel migrants it cannot legally return to their countries of origin. Washington maintains that such arrangements are lawful.
Under the plan, deportees will be housed in apartments in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, and will not face immediate onward repatriation, the official said. The deal could eventually result in hundreds of migrants being sent to the impoverished nation.
The deportation plan unfolds against the backdrop of a three-month-old war between the United States and Iran, which began with joint US-Israeli strikes in late February.
In April, Trump told reporters he believed Iranians should rise up against their government in the event of a ceasefire, while acknowledging that doing so remained too dangerous for ordinary citizens.
The US Department of Homeland Security said last week that all deportees would receive full due process throughout the removal process.
A spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration said the agency, at the request of the Central African government, would “provide post-arrival humanitarian assistance” to migrants sent to Bangui.
The IOM played no role in the removals and would offer help only “on a strictly voluntary basis and respecting applicable international standards,” the spokesperson added.
Washington has allocated $85 million to the IOM for operations in the Central African Republic this year. The nation has a population of 5.5 million.
The New York Times earlier reported the deportation plan on Thursday.
