Amnesty Urges Sierra Leone to Halt Repatriation of Three People Deported From the US
FREETOWN — Amnesty International urged Sierra Leone on October 23 to immediately stop the repatriation of three people deported there from the United States, and to allow them access to fair and effective asylum procedures and independent legal counsel.
The three are Abalo Agba of Togo, Alfred Kamara of Liberia and Fatou Traore of Ivory Coast. According to Reuters, each had lived in the United States for more than 20 years and has children under 18 still in the US. On October 12, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed a total of eight people, including the three, to Sierra Leone.
Amnesty said US immigration judges had previously granted the three protection from repatriation to their countries of origin — a form of protection known as withholding of removal — because they face serious harm there. They are now at immediate risk of being unlawfully returned to their countries of origin by the government of Sierra Leone, the group said.
Since taking office in January last year, the Trump administration has struck deals with several African governments to accept deportees from other countries; Sierra Leone's agreement with Washington covers up to 300 West African third-country nationals a year, Reuters reported. Amnesty said migrants previously deported under the deal had been quickly repatriated, criticising what it called a "revolving door" policy of forcing people home.
A Sierra Leone government spokesperson and the US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 塞拉利昂首都 Freetown 港湾航拍（资料图）/ Aerial view of Freetown, Sierra Leone (file photo)。图片：© David Hond / CC BY 2.0，Wikimedia Commons
