International News

Burundi says it will accept migrant deportees from the United States but details are vague

AP Photo/Heather Khalifa

NGOZI, Burundi (AP) -- Burundi has agreed to accept people deported by the United States who have no previous connection to the East African country, a spokesperson for the country's president said Tuesday.

Nancy Ninette Mutoni said Burundi would accept only people who were not facing prosecution and had no links to terrorism. She spoke during an event attended by government officials in Ngozi.

Mutoni did not say when the deportees would arrive or how many people Burundi had agreed to receive. She said preparations were underway to provide accommodations and help the deportees live in local communities.

"Receiving them requires serious planning -- where they will stay, what they will eat and how they will live alongside the local population," Mutoni said.

The Trump administration has expanded third-country deportations as part of its immigration crackdown, sending people to countries where they are not citizens and may never have lived. The United States has sent deportees to several African countries, including Eswatini and South Sudan.

A U.S. appeals court ruling last week threw the program into question. Lawyers for immigrants said a flight carrying about 70 people had been scheduled to travel from Louisiana to Burundi, Rwanda and the Central African Republic but was canceled.

The ruling did not prohibit third-country deportations but required that people facing removal have a meaningful opportunity to raise concerns about possible persecution or torture. The Trump administration has defended the policy as necessary when deportees' home countries refuse to accept them.