Democratic Republic of the Congo has agreed to receive foreign nationals deported from the United States under a new arrangement with Washington, which is also seeking access to the country’s mineral resources.
Government officials, when contacted by AFP on Tuesday, declined to disclose how many third-country nationals would be accepted or what incentives Kinshasa would receive in exchange for its participation in the US deportation programme.
The DRC joins a growing list of African nations — including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan — that have recently entered similar agreements with Washington, some of which include financial or logistical support from the US.
Data from US authorities indicate that many individuals slated for deportation possess valid work permits and have no criminal history.
However, Human Rights Watch criticised such arrangements in September, stating that the “opaque deals” were “part of a US policy approach that violated international human rights law and is designed to instrumentalise human suffering as a deterrent to migration”.
The rights group further warned that recent deportations to African countries had “exposed several hundred people to a risk of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and refoulement”.
Refoulement refers to the forced return of refugees or asylum seekers to places where they may face persecution.
On Sunday, Congolese authorities confirmed plans to “temporarily take in third country nationals” from the United States, beginning this month.
Despite the agreement, the DRC faces significant domestic challenges. According to World Bank figures, nearly three-quarters of its population live below the poverty line.
READ ALSO: Eswatini Rejects US Deportees, Vows to Repatriate Them to Home Countries
In Kinshasa, where the deportees are expected to be housed, infrastructure is already overstretched for its roughly 17 million residents, many of whom lack access to basic utilities such as running water and electricity.
The government said it has arranged “reception facilities” for the arrivals and emphasised that it would not bear any financial burden, noting that “the logistical and technical aspects of the operation will be handled by the US government”.
Concerns have also been raised by United Nations human rights experts, who in July criticised the Trump administration’s “expedited removal procedure could allow people to be taken to a country other than their own in as little as a single day, without an immigration court hearing or other appearance before a judge”.
Beyond migration, the two countries are deepening cooperation in other areas. They signed a $1.2 billion health agreement in February, granting the US access to data on disease outbreaks.
In December, the DRC also allowed Washington access to its extensive mineral deposits, including copper, cobalt, coltan and lithium — resources increasingly sought after amid global competition.
In return, the United States has facilitated talks between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda aimed at easing tensions in the country’s conflict-affected eastern region, where much of its mineral wealth is located.
However, these diplomatic efforts have yet to bring an end to the violence that has persisted in the area for nearly three decades.