Sierra Leone accepts US deportees

Sierra Leone>>> has become the latest African nation to sign an agreement with the United States>>> to accept West African migrants deported under the Donald Trump>>> administration's immigration crackdown. On May 20, 2026, a plane carrying nine deportees from Nigeria>>>, Ghana>>>, Guinea>>>, and Senegal>>> landed in Freetown. Sierra Leone>>>'s Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba>>> confirmed the country would accept up to 300 ECOWAS>>> citizens annually, receiving $1.5 million from the United States>>> to cover humanitarian and operational costs. This move follows similar agreements between the United States>>> and other African nations like Cameroon>>>, the Democratic Republic of the Congo>>>, Equatorial Guinea>>>, Eswatini>>>, Ghana>>>, Rwanda>>>, and South Sudan>>>. Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch>>>, have criticized these 'opaque deals' as potentially violating international human rights law, raising concerns about the treatment and legal basis for transferring migrants to countries where they are not nationals.