The Trump administration plans to deport a number of Iranians and other migrants to the Central African Republic, a chronically unstable country racked by violence and poverty, two lawyers and an official briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The Iranians include two women who face potential torture and persecution if they are forced to go back to Iran, their lawyer, Emily Trostle, said. One is a Christian convert, and the other is a pro-democracy activist, she added.
The US State Department and the presidency in the Central African Republic, which recently reached a deal to accept so-called third-country deportees from the US, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Syrians and Afghans also expected on plane
Both women were detained upon arriving in the US in November 2024, Trostle said. They applied for asylum in the US and had secured a form of protection known as withholding of removal from a US immigration judge, Trostle said.
The official briefed on the matter told Reuters the first flight to the Central African Republic under the deal was expected to take about 20 people, also including Syrians and Afghans. The plane could leave as early as Thursday, the two lawyers said.
Another source familiar with the preparations said one Turkish national was also expected to be deported.
The Trump administration has used third-country deportation deals, including with the Central African Republic’s neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is now facing an Ebola outbreak, to deport people it can’t legally send home.
Washington has defended the deals as lawful, though rights groups and advocates have said the details of the deals are opaque and many of the deportees are ultimately repatriated.
The US and Israel launched heavy strikes on Iran in late February, kicking off a now three-month-old war.
US President Donald Trump told reporters in April that he thought the Iranian people should rise up against the government in Iran if a ceasefire were declared, but understood that it was too dangerous for them to do so.
‘Hundreds’ could be deported under deal
The deportees will be held in apartments in the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, and are not expected to be repatriated immediately, the briefed official said.
Hundreds of migrants could ultimately be deported there under the deal, the official added.
The plan to deport Iranians was reported earlier on Thursday by The New York Times.
The US Department of Homeland Security said last week that all deportees would receive full due process.
A spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration said the agency would “provide post-arrival humanitarian assistance” to the migrants sent to Bangui, at the request of the Central African government.
The spokesperson said the IOM was not involved in the removals and would provide assistance “on a strictly voluntary basis and respecting applicable international standards.”
This year, the US awarded $85 million to the IOM for operations in the Central African Republic.
The country has endured repeated cycles of unrest since its independence from France in 1960, leaving most of its 5.5 million people in poverty.
Five years ago, Rwanda deployed troops to prevent rebels from disrupting elections and maintains a presence today. President Faustin-Archange Touadera signed peace deals this year with several rebel groups, reducing violence in some regions.
