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The US wants to deport African migrants to Equatorial Guinea, according to the country’s vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.
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Mangue stated that discussions are ongoing, but no conclusion has been reached, and Equatorial Guinea would only accept migrants without criminal records.
The United States is seeking to deport African migrants to Equatorial Guinea, a move that has sparked debate and concern among citizens and officials alike.
According to Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the US has expressed interest in sending migrants to the West African country, but no final decision has been made.
“I confirm that there was a conversation in which the United States expressed its intentions, but no conclusion was reached,” Mangue wrote on his X account.
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In exchange for accepting these migrants, Mangue requested that the US cover housing and living costs for the deportees and invest in local programs to facilitate their social reintegration.
The proposal has raised concerns about potential security risks, with some Equatorial Guineans fearing that deported migrants might include “criminals.”
However, Mangue assured that the country would carefully vet potential deportees and only welcome those with clean records. “In my opinion, there could be an agreement, but we choose the people we can welcome based on their respective profiles,” he said.
This development is part of the US’s broader effort to fulfill Trump’s campaign promise of large-scale deportation of undocumented migrants. At the end of April, the US announced it was actively seeking countries willing to accept nationals from third countries.
However, critics point to the contradiction in Equatorial Guinea’s stance, given its recent history of expelling migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, including over 200 Cameroonians in mid-April.
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This move had sparked diplomatic tensions with Yaounde, which expressed “outrage and disapproval” over the expulsions. Equatorial Guinea responded by stating it had expelled “undocumented migrants.”
Radio Macuto, an online newspaper close to the Equatorial Guinean opposition, questioned the government’s willingness to accept deported migrants from the US, given its treatment of existing migrant populations.
“How can a regime that expels poor, settled migrants now be willing to take in others deported from the US?” the newspaper asked.
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