Migrants Deported from South America Face Pressure to Return Home in DRC

US Deportees to Democratic Republic of Congo Face Pressure to Return Home

Fifteen South American migrants and asylum seekers who were recently deported from the United States to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reported feeling pressured to return to their home countries despite concerns for their safety. According to Reuters, the group arrived in the DRC last week as part of a third-country agreement with the Trump administration.

The deportees, including women from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, were given no credible options other than returning to their home countries upon arrival. A 29-year-old Colombian woman stated that she feels pressured to agree to return to her country, regardless of the risks. The group was deported after seeking asylum in the US due to persecution in their home countries.

The 29-year-old woman had previously written in her asylum application that she left Colombia after being kidnapped and tortured by an armed group, as well as suffering abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, who was a police officer. A US immigration judge ruled in May 2025 that she was more likely than not to be tortured if sent home.

The deportees were transported on a 27-hour trip during which their hands and feet were shackled. One Colombian woman, Gabriela, reported feeling scared and unsure of the language spoken in the DRC. Immigration advocates have stated that third-country deportations are an effort to intimidate migrants and asylum seekers into agreeing to leave the US.

A lawyer representing one of the asylum seekers in the DRC stated that the goal of such removals is to put people in unfamiliar places, making them more likely to give up and agree to return home despite the risks.

Source: Al Jazeera