USdeportations of thousands of people to dozens of countries are "triggering a cascade of human rights violations", heightening the risk of abuses like torture, slavery and trafficking, UN experts warned Monday. Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Washington has been signing deals with developing countries to take migrants who cannot legally be sent home. More than 20 independent United Nations experts, including the special rapporteurs on the rights of migrants and on protecting rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, warned such agreements were "increasing risks of torture and ill-treatment and enforced disappearance".
Read moreDeported to Africa: An international investigation into Trump’s migrant policy They were also "breaching the customary law principle of non-refoulement in countries around the world that are signing agreements to accept planeloads of migrants and refugees removed from the US", they cautioned. The experts said the US had signed such deals with more than 35 countries, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and South Sudan. They said at least 23,000 third-country nationals had been deported so far.
Last week, an investigation by the non-profit group Forbidden Stories and a consortium of international journalists including FRANCE 24 reporters determined the number was already above 25,000 people by the end of August. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading.
To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: Sofia Alvarez Jurado, Forbidden Stories, Paris, September 21, 2026. © Screengrab The experts warned that the deportees were being sent "to countries or territories with which they have no ties", which could compound harms that pushed them to flee to the United States in the first place. "Others are sent to places where they risk further violence or discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or human rights advocacy." The independent experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council and do not speak on behalf of the UN, highlighted that those impacted included asylum seekers and migrants at various stages of their immigration process.
Read moreInvestigation: In Cameroon, the victims of Trump’s deportations face uncertain fates They warned the arrangements opened the door to a wide range of violations, including arbitrary detention, slavery and trafficking. "At gravest risk are children, women, persons with disabilities, victims of trafficking, LGBT persons, human rights defenders, stateless persons and other people in extremely vulnerable situations," they said. "For migrants in situations of particular vulnerability, the consequences can be deadly." The experts said they had notified the United States and all the other governments involved in the agreements.
They pointed out that many of the countries involved have "no asylum processing infrastructure, protective holding facilities or adequate health and medical services or sustainable reintegration options". "In many cases, these third countries are themselves engulfed in conflict, with their own populations facing displacement, starvation and debilitating poverty," they said. "All states and territories involved must immediately halt these arrangements." Read more‘I had never heard of Eswatini’: Deported by the US to a country that rejects them They also stressed that "cooperation does not dilute responsibility".
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