Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees from third countries from the United States over the next year, and the first group of 20 deportees is expected to arrive in the West African country on Thursday. Reuters reports this, citing a government statement, UNN reports.
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The publication notes that this is the latest such agreement concluded by the Trump administration with an African government to deport people whom it cannot legally send back to their home countries.
In most cases, the deportees received legal protection from repatriation after U.S. immigration judges ruled that they faced torture or other abuses.
Washington defends these agreements as lawful, although human rights groups and activists say the details of the agreements are opaque and that many deportees are ultimately repatriated.
The Liberian government statement said that those deported to Liberia "will include citizens or nationals of countries in Africa and the Western Hemisphere who are medically cleared to travel."
The statement also said that some of them "may wish to seek asylum in Liberia."
Other African countries accepting deportees from third countries include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.