Deportees Sent to Tiny African Nation After Refusing to Get Off Plane
Six migrants deported from the United States refused to disembark from their plane upon landing in Liberia, citing that Liberia was not their country. Consequently, they were rerouted to Malabo, equatorial Guinea, under a third-country deportation agreement. The group included four Cuban men,a Brazilian man,and a Cameroonian woman. While other passengers disembarked out of fear of force, the six remained on the plane and were subsequently transferred to Equatorial Guinea’s capital. In Equatorial Guinea, they were held at a hotel owned by the president’s family, with reports indicating the arrivals were chaotic and distressing. These deportations are part of a broader arrangement, with Liberia having previously agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees from the U.S., and over 40 individuals being held in Equatorial Guinea under similar protocols. The U.S. defends these third-country deportations as lawful when deportees’ home countries refuse to accept them. The incident highlights complexities surrounding immigration enforcement and international deportation agreements.
Six migrants deported from the United States refused to leave a plane in Liberia last week and were instead flown to Equatorial Guinea.
The group included four Cuban men, one Brazilian man and one Cameroonian woman, according to accounts from a person on the flight and a lawyer in contact with them, as reported by NBC News and The Associated Press.
They arrived in Liberia Thursday as part of a third-country deportation arrangement. When the plane landed, the six refused to disembark, saying Liberia was “not their country.”
Other passengers got off because they feared officers would force them, a Honduran deportee on the flight said.
The six were then separated from the rest of the group.
Authorities told them they would be returned to the United States. Instead, the plane continued to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea.
They arrived there later the same day.
Equatorial Guinea has a third-country agreement with the United States. Deportees there have been held at a hotel owned by the family of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The United States has no obligation to keep individuals who have no legal right to remain, especially when their home countries refuse to take them back.
Third-country arrangements exist for precisely these situations.
Deportees who refused to exit a U.S. flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea. https://t.co/eLUU3TfpPn
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 25, 2026
Liberia had agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees under a deal with the Trump administration. This flight was among the early arrivals.
The six who refused to leave the plane in Liberia are now among roughly 40 people held in Equatorial Guinea under similar arrangements, according to advocates and prior reporting by Reuters.
One of the Cuban men was identified by his wife as Carlos Rodríguez López, 35, who had been living in the Miami area.
A lawyer working with some of the deportees described the arrival in Malabo as chaotic, with some people in chains and in distress, the AP reported.
Equatorial Guinea’s government has not publicly commented on the latest arrivals.
The U.S. government has defended third-country deportations as a lawful tool when home countries will not cooperate.
The six remain in Equatorial Guinea as of the latest reports.
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