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West African leaders are rejecting U.S. efforts to offload third-country deportees, following a White House summit where President Donald Trump reportedly floated the idea of African nations accepting migrants refused by their own governments.
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló confirmed Thursday (10 July) that while Trump raised the issue during a Wednesday meeting with five African leaders, no formal request was made. “He talked about that, but he didn’t ask us to take immigrants back to our country,” Embaló clarified at a Washington event. “If they are our citizens of Guinea-Bissau, …of course they are going back home. But if they are another citizen, why are we going [to take] them? No, our policy doesn’t accept that.”
The summit, attended by leaders from Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon, and Guinea-Bissau, was intended to promote trade but was also used by Trump to push for deportation deals similar to past arrangements with Panama and El Salvador. Those agreements involved sending migrants — sometimes straight from U.S. prisons — to third countries with limited ties to the individuals.
Nigeria, though not at the summit, firmly rejected a similar request. “It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners. We have enough problems of our own,” said Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, citing domestic pressures and U.S. tariffs on Nigerian exports as possible political leverage. Human rights groups have condemned the Trump-era policy as a breach of asylum laws and international norms.
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