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A second group of approximately 12 migrants deported from the United States arrived in Sierra Leone on Thursday, Sierraloaded has learnt.
This arrival follows an initial flight last month that brought nine immigrants to the country under a Third Country National Agreement with the United States. The first batch, which arrived on May 20, comprised five Ghanaians, two Guineans, one Senegalese, and one Nigerian.
The deal, which Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba stated is supported by a $1.5 million U.S. grant, allows the country to accept up to 300 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) nationals per year, capped at 25 individuals per month.
Lawyers representing the deportees have raised serious concerns that the migrants, who had secured U.S. court orders protecting them from deportation to their home countries due to fears of persecution, now risk being sent back to those same nations.
A briefing pamphlet distributed to deportees upon arrival in Freetown by Kenvah Solutions, a private contractor hired by the Sierra Leone government to handle accommodation, food, healthcare, and transfer—states that authorities are working to “return you home as quickly and safely as possible”.
The pamphlet describes Sierra Leone as a “temporary transit location,” adding that “no long-term settlement is provided for or permitted”. Deportees are expected to be sent home or transferred within 14 days, or up to 30 days in exceptional cases.
Erica Reilly, an attorney representing a Nigerian man among those deported Thursday, said the migrants had legal protections from U.S. courts barring their deportation to their home countries after judges ruled they faced credible fears of persecution. They are now left with little ability to prevent being sent there.
“They’re put in a position where they just don’t have a say at all,” Reilly told the Associated Press.
“The U.S. government knows exactly what’s going to happen in the vast majority of these situations,” she added. “Our government is just saying, ‘What happens to them after they leave the United States is not our problem.'”
The Human Rights Defenders Network-Sierra Leone has expressed grave concern over the arrangement, warning that it could violate international legal principles, including the principle of non-refoulement under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the UN Convention against Torture, which prohibit the transfer of individuals to countries where they may face persecution or serious harm.
The network has called on the government to disclose the full terms of the agreement and clarify the legal protections available to deportees.
Sierra Leone is one of at least nine African nations—along with several Latin American and Caribbean countries—to enter into such deportation agreements under the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown. A February report from Democrats on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee revealed that over $32 million had already been distributed to countries participating in similar arrangements.
Minister Kabba previously defended Sierra Leone’s participation in the program, framing it not as a direct financial exchange, but as a humanitarian responsibility to ensure the welfare and safety of ECOWAS citizens detained in the U.S..
Neither Kenvah Solutions nor Sierra Leonean authorities immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the latest arrivals or their imminent transfer plans.
