US plans deportation of Iranian and other migrants to Central African Republic

The Trump administration is preparing to deport about 20 migrants, including Iranians, Syrians and Afghans, to the Central African Republic under a third-country relocation agreement. The deportees, some of whom had legal protections in the US, will be housed in Bangui and may not be immediately returned to their home countries. US officials say the process is lawful, while the International Organization for Migration will provide humanitarian assistance upon arrival.

:::writing{variant="document" id="58271"} The administration of US President Donald Trump is preparing to deport a group of Iranian nationals, along with migrants from other countries, to the Central African Republic under an arrangement aimed at relocating individuals who cannot easily be returned to their home nations, according to two lawyers and a government official familiar with the plan.
Among those facing deportation are two Iranian women who had previously sought asylum in the United States. Their lawyer, Emily Trostle, said both women had been granted a legal protection known as withholding of removal, which prevents deportation to a country where they could face persecution or threats to their safety.
According to a US official briefed on the arrangement, the first deportation flight to the Central African Republic is expected to carry about 20 migrants. The group is reportedly made up of nationals from several countries, including Iran, Syria and Afghanistan. Lawyers involved in the case said the aircraft could depart as early as Thursday.
The Trump administration has increasingly relied on third-country deportation agreements to remove migrants whom it cannot legally return to their countries of origin. US officials have maintained that such arrangements comply with domestic and international legal requirements.
The deportation plan comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions involving Iran. Earlier this year, the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iranian targets, escalating a conflict that has now continued for several months. In April, President Trump stated that he believed Iranians should challenge their government if a ceasefire were achieved, while acknowledging the dangers such actions could pose to ordinary citizens.
Under the proposed arrangement, migrants deported to the Central African Republic will reportedly be housed in apartments in the capital, Bangui. The official familiar with the matter said they are not expected to be immediately repatriated to their home countries after arrival.
The same official indicated that the programme could eventually expand significantly, with hundreds of migrants potentially transferred to the Central African Republic under the agreement.
The New York Times was the first media outlet to report details of the plan to deport Iranian nationals to the Central African Republic.
Responding to concerns about the removals, the US Department of Homeland Security said last week that all individuals subject to deportation proceedings would be afforded full due process protections before being removed from the country.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed that the agency had agreed to provide humanitarian support to migrants upon their arrival in Bangui at the request of the Central African authorities. The spokesperson stressed that the IOM was not involved in carrying out the deportations themselves and would only provide assistance voluntarily and in accordance with international humanitarian standards.
The United States has significantly increased support for migration-related operations in the Central African Republic this year, allocating approximately $85 million to the IOM for activities in the country, which has a population of about 5.5 million people. :::