Amnesty Urges Sierra Leone to Halt Repatriation of Three US Deportees

Amnesty International on Friday urged Sierra Leone to halt the expected repatriation of three people who were deported from the United States this month, saying they could face serious harm if they are sent on to their home countries in West Africa.

The three are Abalo Agba of Togo, Alfred Kamara of Liberia and Fatou Traore of Ivory Coast. Each of them had lived in the United States for more than 20 years when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed them to Sierra Leone on October 12, Reuters reported. All three have children under 18 who are still in the United States.

Protection a judge already granted

Before their removal, the three held a form of protection known as withholding of removal. It is granted when a US immigration judge finds that a person is more likely than not to face torture or other serious abuse if forced back to their home country. Amnesty said the three are now at immediate risk of being unlawfully returned to those same countries by the government of Sierra Leone.

In its statement on October 23, Amnesty said ICE removed eight people to Sierra Leone on October 12, the three named above and five others. The group called on Sierra Leone to stop the repatriations at once and to give the deportees access to fair asylum procedures and independent legal counsel.

A third country deal

Sierra Leone has an agreement with Washington to accept up to 300 West African third country nationals a year, Reuters reported. Since taking office in January last year, the Trump administration has reached similar deals with several African governments that agreed to take in migrants from other countries.

Amnesty said migrants deported to Sierra Leone under the deal before this group were quickly repatriated to their home countries, and it criticised the practice as a revolving door that sends people back to the danger a judge already recognised.

One case in Iowa

AFSCME, the public service workers union, has taken up the case of Fatou Traore. The union said Traore cleans rooms at a children's hospital in Iowa City, where her husband also works as a hospital custodian, and that the couple are raising four US citizen sons. The union said an immigration judge found 15 years ago that Traore could not be deported to Ivory Coast, and it called for her release and her return to the United States.

A Sierra Leone government spokesperson and the US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.