Sierra Leone has agreed to accept up to 300 deported West African migrants annually from the United States under a new “Third Country National Agreement,” according to Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba.
The first deportation flight is expected on May 20 and will reportedly carry 25 individuals from Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, and Nigeria. Under the arrangement, Sierra Leone would receive a maximum of 25 deportees per month from ECOWAS member states.
The agreement forms part of a broader push by the Trump administration to accelerate deportations through third-country transfers, particularly for migrants whose return to their countries of origin may be delayed or legally contested.
However, the policy has drawn criticism from legal experts and rights advocates, especially after previous deportees sent to African countries such as Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and Eswatini reportedly ended up being forced back to their home countries despite U.S. court protections intended to prevent deportation.
It remains unclear whether migrants transferred to Sierra Leone will be allowed to permanently remain there or eventually return to their countries of origin. Sierra Leonean authorities have also not disclosed what the country stands to gain from the agreement.
The development is likely to spark wider debate across West Africa around migration policy, regional cooperation, sovereignty, and the humanitarian implications of third-country deportation arrangements.
