First US-deported migrants land in Kinshasa under Washington’s third-country removal scheme
The arrival of the first US deportees in Kinshasa marks the DRC’s entry into Washington’s controversial third-country removal programme, at a moment when the Trump administration is simultaneously brokering a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda and pursuing access to Congolese critical minerals.
Fifteen migrants deported from the United States have arrived in Kinshasa, becoming the first group transferred to the Democratic Republic of Congo under a new deportation agreement with Washington.
The deportees, nationals of Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, landed in the Congolese capital in the early hours of 18 April, according to flight-tracking data and local reports. A Colombian national among the group said they included nine men and seven women and claimed they held valid legal protection against deportation.
The Congolese government described the arrangement as temporary and said it reflected its commitment to human dignity and international solidarity. Under the deal, the United States is covering all logistics and financial costs. Deportees were reportedly issued seven-day visas on arrival, extendable for up to three months, and were discouraged from seeking asylum.
The DRC is now among several African countries that have agreed to receive third-country deportees, including Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda and Eswatini. A Senate Foreign Relations Committee report has said the Trump administration has spent at least $40 million deporting about 300 migrants to third countries.
Rights groups and legal advocates have raised objections, including claims that some deportees had active protection against removal. Lawyers in related cases in Uganda have also challenged their governments’ participation in similar arrangements.
The deal is part of a broader relationship between Washington and Kinshasa that also includes peace efforts in eastern Congo and growing US interest in the country’s mineral wealth, including cobalt, lithium and copper. A US-DRC strategic partnership signed in December 2025 cited critical mineral supply chain security as a core objective.
The arrangement reflects a transactional US approach that links migration policy, peace diplomacy and resource access. Reuters reported that further groups of about 50 deportees a month may follow, though the total number has not been disclosed.