{"id":2000,"date":"2026-04-22T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/?p=2000"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:00:15","slug":"migrants-deported-from-us-stranded-scared-in-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/migrants-deported-from-us-stranded-scared-in-dr-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrants deported from US stranded, ‘scared’ in DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

AFP<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Spending the past five days cooped up in a hotel in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not quite what a group of Latin Americans expected when they sought asylum in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But their predicament is far from the worst of it: the men and women told AFP on Wednesday that they arrived in Kinshasa after a 27-hour flight which they spent with their hands and feet shackled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriela, a 30-year-old Colombian sporting tattoos and clad like most of her fellow sufferers in a white T-shirt, summed up their plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I didn’t want to go to Congo. I’m scared, I don’t know the language,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She only found out where they were headed the day before being expelled from the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC — one of a number of African nations that have agreed to take in deported migrants — is one of the world’s 15 poorest countries, thousands of kilometres from the Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first batch of deportees arrived last Friday in the central African country under a controversial US migration scheme to pack off undocumented foreign nationals to third countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others include Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scheme has often been accompanied by US financial or logistical support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet scant information is provided by the authorities in the host countries about the migrants’ fate once they arrive on their soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which takes charge of them once they have obtained short-stay visas, told AFP it can offer “assisted voluntary return to migrants who request it”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Expelled
Expelled from the United States, fifteen migrants from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru spent 27 hours on a plane, handcuffed and chained, before finally landing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. PHOTO: AFP\/ GLODY MURHABAZI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Waiting<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Since their arrival in Kinshasa, a megacity of more than 17 million people, the 15 South American migrants have been whiling away their time in a complex near the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rows of neat, white-walled little houses stand side by side. The migrants sleep there and say they are forbidden to leave the premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police and army vehicles are parked outside and on occasion personnel can be seen from a private military firm which AFP was unable to identify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cast adrift by US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, the migrants spend their days on their mobile phones, trying to contact their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US
US President Donald Trump speaks during the NCAA Collegiate National Champions Day event at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 21, 2026. PHOTO: AFP\/ BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

None speaks French, the DRC’s official language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They claim to have received around $100 in aid from IOM officials but are not allowed any visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Several of our friends have taken ill — as have I,” said Gabriela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve had fevers, vomiting and stomach problems. But we’re told that’s normal and that we must adapt.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some have been given medication, but Gabriela said no healthcare worker has come to examine them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four residents of the hotel said they had been issued with a seven-day visa, extendable for three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once the seven days are up, they said they are threatened with no further support, as well as with being left to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They’ve got us cornered because they tell us: if you don\u2019t accept the repatriation programme, you’ll be stuck in a mess here in Congo,” said Gabriela, visibly upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That is inhumane and unfair.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afraid<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The noisy chaos of the overcrowded Congolese capital reverberates behind the walls of the hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A constant stream of minibuses and cars honk their horns on a potholed road that is surrounded by dilapidated buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Kinshasa residents have no reliable access either to running water or electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly three-quarters of Congolese people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrival of South American migrants has sparked strong reactions among civil society and on Congolese social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I get three meals a day, the hotel staff cleans the rooms, and we’re well protected,” said Hugo Palencia Ropero, a 25-year-old Colombian who said he spent five months in US detention before being deported to the DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he added: “I’m more afraid of being here in Africa than in Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If the seven days go by and we don’t receive any further assistance, things will get very difficult for us, especially since we don’t have work permits.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he was willing to accept “any travel document” just to “be able to leave this country”.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hugo Palencia Ropero, 25 years old, a Colombian citizen expelled from the United States, sits outside his room in a hotel in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on April 22, 2026. PHOTO: AFP\/ GLODY MURHABAZI<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[105],"class_list":["post-2000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration","tag-relevant-news2"],"blocksy_meta":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}