A US deportation flight headed to the Central African Republic on Friday, lawyers told AFP, carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia.
Such “third-country” deportations, including of people with legal protections, have become a staple of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
The US State Department advisory for the impoverished, violence-wracked CAR reads: “Do not travel to Central African Republic for any reason.”
Trump has described Iran, with whom Washington is currently at war, as a “terrorist regime” but is nonetheless deporting nationals who have fled the country, including at least two Iranian women, their lawyer said.
The Iranians had been granted “withholding of removal” — a status that carries weaker rights than asylum but has been considered a “win” in immigration court under previous administrations.
“We fear they will ultimately be forced to return to the countries they originally fled,” as has repeatedly happened with other deportees
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