Bujumbura, Oct. 1 (SANA) Burundi has agreed to accept third-country nationals deported from the United States, joining a growing number of African countries that have reached similar arrangements under the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Burundian presidential spokesperson Nancy Ninette Mutoni told Reuters that the country would not accept deportees accused of crimes or linked to terrorism. She did not disclose how many people Burundi would receive, when they would arrive or whether the agreement involved financial compensation.
Authorities are preparing accommodation and other basic services for the deportees and plan to help integrate them into local communities, Mutoni said.
She said the process would require careful planning, including determining where the deportees would live and how they would support themselves.
The United States has sent third-country deportees to about six African countries. Democrats in the U.S. Senate have said such arrangements have cost tens of millions of dollars.
Rights groups have criticized the policy, saying some people sent to third countries had previously been granted protection from deportation by U.S. immigration courts.
T.S /ABD
