Liberia receives first US deportees under 1,200-person transfer deal
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A group of 20 people deported from the United States arrived at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia on Thursday, the first transfer under a deal allowing Liberia to receive up to 1,200 deportees over 12 months. Liberian officials drove them away in a bus, but their legal status and whereabouts remain undefined. The government described them as 'guests of the Republic' and said they are free to leave, even as families and lawyers demand clarity.
Key Facts
- The first group of 20 people deported from the US arrived at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia on Thursday.
- The arrangement allows Liberia to receive up to 1,200 deportees from the US over the next 12 months.
- Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said the deportees would be received as 'guests of the Republic' and are free to leave.
- Piah stated that accommodation, food, and eventual onward travel would be covered by the US government and an international partner organisation.
- Monrovia-based lawyer Samwar Fallah said the government has not defined the deportees' status under Liberian law.
The Arrival
The group landed at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia on Thursday and was driven away in a bus by Liberian officials. The Liberian government announced the arrangement on Tuesday, two days before the flight. Politicians said they were not consulted about the transfer. The group is the first transferred under an arrangement allowing Liberia to receive up to 1,200 people deported from the US over the next 12 months.
Legal Status
Monrovia-based lawyer Samwar Fallah said the government has not defined the deportees' status under Liberian law. Fallah is assisting the families without charge alongside two US immigration lawyers. He said the families want to know whether their relatives may settle in Liberia, choose where they can go, or eventually return to the US. Fallah avoids calling them deportees because the government has not defined their status.
Government Response
Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said those transferred would be received as 'guests of the Republic'. Piah said they are free to leave and may seek asylum. He linked the decision to Liberia's history as a settlement for free and formerly enslaved Black people from the US and a country whose citizens sought protection abroad during 14 years of civil war. Piah insisted Liberia would not bear the cost, saying accommodation, food, and eventual onward travel would be covered by the US government and an international partner organisation.
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Liberia receives first US deportees under 1,200-person transfer deal
