Police in Equatorial Guinea drew firearms on migrants deported there from the United States, according to three witnesses and video footage shared wit
Police in Equatorial Guinea drew firearms on migrants deported there from the United States, according to three witnesses and video footage shared with Reuters, deepening concerns over the treatment and safety of people sent to the Central African nation under Washington’s controversial third-country removal deals.
The incident intensified worries about migrants who have been held at a hotel in the country’s former capital, Malabo, since being deported.
The confrontation reportedly broke out on Saturday as a dispute over migrants’ access to mobile phones, before escalating rapidly.
Footage reviewed by Reuters showed officers wearing “National Police” shirts pointing what appeared to be semi-automatic rifles at deportees near the hotel entrance, with one migrant seen kneeling on the ground as others screamed nearby.
Reuters said it could not independently verify what triggered the confrontation.
Deportees held at the facility have separately alleged inadequate medical care, denial of legal assistance and severe psychological distress during their confinement.
The Trump administration has, since last year, signed a series of agreements with African governments to accept migrants the US cannot legally deport to their countries of origin, under so-called third-country arrangements.
Many of those sent to Equatorial Guinea had previously been granted legal protection from removal by US courts, raising fresh questions from rights groups and lawmakers about due process and the safety guarantees attached to Washington’s deportation deals with authoritarian states.
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