Eswatini, South Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, and Rwanda are amongst the African countries that have agreed to accept “third-country deportees” under arrangements with the Trump administration, which is cracking down on illegal immigrants.
Countries such as Burkina Faso, Libya, and Nigeria have declined to participate in such agreements. 
A Pattern of Inhuman Deportations
Rwanda has accepted seven deportees since August 2025 as part of a plan to take in as many as 250 deportees, while South Sudan and Uganda have also consented to accept deportees.
Ghana accepted 14 deportees on September 4, 2025, amidst claims that the government did not receive any payments for this action. However, reports allege that some deportees, like a Nigerian, was treated horribly, being abandoned in Togo rather than being directly transferred to Ghana.
Recently, the deportees sent to Ghana included 13 Nigerians and one Gambian, none of whom had any prior connection to the country.
They were allegedly transferred on a U.S. military cargo plane in an extremely inhumane manner, and they woke up in the middle of the night on September 5 without knowing where they were going until much later in their flight.
Lawyers representing these deportees question the legality of these transfers. Their argument? Many deportees did not express a preference for Ghana as a potential country of removal.
ALSO READ: 4 Reasons Why Canada Is Deporting Nigerians and Other African Migrants
Why Did African Countries Agree To Accept Trump’s Deportees?
This arrangement is usually not out of magnanimity, as the US promises to send money or for other quid pro quo arrangements.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told reporters in September 2025 that Ghana is doing this based solely on humanitarian principles and they would not receive financial compensation.
In a not-so-shocking twist, he later told a Ghanaian television station that American officials may have concessions on visas and tariffs in exchange for help with “immigration challenges”.
In September 2025, Eswatini confirmed that they had received $5.1 million from the US government.
The amount Rwanda will receive hasn’t been disclosed yet, but it does make one question if their actions are done out of magnanimity. At least these African countries all have the rule that they will not be accepting immigrants who are criminals.
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