The Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed to accept migrants deported from the United States who are not themselves Congolese, becoming the latest African country to enter into such an arrangement with the Trump administration.
The Congolese Ministry of Communication confirmed the deal on Sunday, saying a temporary reception system had been established and that facilities to accommodate arrivals had been identified in the capital, Kinshasa. Logistical and technical support will be provided by the US, with the Congolese government bearing no financial cost for the scheme.
Officials were careful to frame the arrangement on their own terms. The decision, the government said, reflects DR Congo’s commitment to human dignity, international solidarity and the protection of migrants’ rights. It is not, they stressed, a “permanent relocation mechanism or an outsourcing of migration policies.” Amid concerns that migrants could face persecution if transferred onward to their home countries, Congolese officials also said no such transfers are being planned.
The government did not specify how many deportees it would be willing to accept. The BBC has sought comment from the US State Department and Department of Homeland Security without response.
DR Congo joins Eswatini, Ghana and South Sudan in receiving so-called third-country deportees — migrants who come from neither the sending nor the receiving nation — as part of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration crackdown. Last week, eight people from different African countries were deported to Uganda. Human rights campaigners have condemned the broader policy and raised questions about its legality.
A minority report from the US Senate’s foreign relations committee estimates the administration has likely spent more than $40 million on third-country deportations up to January 2026, with more than $32 million paid directly to five countries including Rwanda and El Salvador. The full cost remains unknown.
The agreement comes against a backdrop of wider US-Congo engagement. Washington is currently negotiating a minerals deal with Kinshasa to access DR Congo’s vast reserves of cobalt, tantalum, lithium and copper, and has also helped broker a peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, though implementing it has proved difficult.
