Uganda receives first US deportation flight under third-country agreement

Uganda Welcomes First US Deportation Flight Under Third-Country Pact

The inaugural deportation flight from the United States to Uganda arrived on April 2, 2026, as part of a strategy to send migrants to countries with which they have limited connections. This marks a key step in the Trump administration’s approach to repatriating individuals to third nations, bypassing traditional asylum pathways.

An unnamed Ugandan official confirmed that the deportees would remain in the country temporarily, potentially serving as a gateway for further movement to other destinations. The Uganda Law Society, which criticized the arrivals, stated that 12 people were on the flight, the first under an agreement signed in August. Details about their backgrounds, including nationalities, have not been disclosed.

“An undignified, harrowing and dehumanising process that has reduced [the deported people] to little more than chattel, for the benefit of private interests on both sides of the Atlantic,” the Uganda Law Society said, planning legal actions in Ugandan and regional courts.

The US has already sent over a hundred individuals to third countries through similar programs. Other African nations such as Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan have also accepted deportees from distant locations, including Cuba, Jamaica, Yemen, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.

Yasmeen Hibrawi, a public affairs counselor at the US embassy in Kampala, stated that all deportations are conducted with Uganda’s full cooperation, though specifics of diplomatic discussions remain confidential due to privacy concerns.

In August, Uganda agreed to a deal with the US to accept migrants from third countries who were hesitant to return home, excluding those with criminal records or unaccompanied minors. The terms of the agreement, including financial contributions, were not explicitly detailed.

According to the Associated Press, hundreds of asylum seekers have been ordered for deportation to Uganda, though the minister for foreign affairs, Oryem Okello, stated that none had arrived yet. He suggested that the US might be conducting a cost analysis to optimize the process, aiming to avoid sending flights with only a few passengers.

Reuters reported that the US agreed to provide Eswatini with $5.1 million to accommodate up to 160 third-country nationals. In July, five men were sent to the southern African nation, with ten more arriving in October. Two have since been returned to Jamaica and Cambodia, while the remaining individuals are held in a maximum security prison.

As of March 12, government data indicated that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had detained over 63,000 people. A report by Human Rights First and Raices highlighted that among these detainees, toddlers and newborns were imprisoned at the Dilley, Texas facility between April 2025 and February 2026.