'I didn't know where DR Congo was': Latin Americans deported by US tell of their shock

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. 'I didn't know where DR Congo was': Latin Americans deported by US tell of their shock5 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleNorberto ParedesBBC News MundoCourtesy imageCarlos Rodelo (left) and Jorge Cubillos are among a group of 15 people from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador held in a hotel in DR CongoFor eight years, Jorge Cubillos worked to build a new life in the US, after fleeing threats in his home country of Colombia. He says he had a work permit, and had been granted protection from deportation under Article 3 of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). But suddenly Cubillos was put on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 10,700 km (6,700 miles) away from his wife and four children in Florida.

"I never thought I would end up in Africa. I thought they were just threats," he told Mundo. Speaking by telephone from his hotel room in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, he says he has no idea what the future holds.

The Details

Cubillos is one of a group of 15 migrants and asylum seekers from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador deported from the US to the central African country last month. While the US authorities say they were deported because they were in the country illegally, some of them told the their asylum applications were pending and so they did have the right to stay. They are the first to arrive in DR Congo under a controversial agreement with third countries signed by US President Donald Trump's administration.

His promise of mass deportations was central to his re-election campaign. Another of the deportees, Carlos Rodelo, says he only learned of his final destination just hours before the flight took off. "When they told me they were sending me to the Congo, I told them I didn't even know what that was or where it was.

"He says he spent eight months in detention in Louisiana before being deported - despite a court previously ruling he could remain in the country. The Trump administration has defended its deportations to other so-called third countries as being lawful and mutually beneficial to both countries. But a federal judge last week ordered the US authorities to bring back one of the women sent to DR Congo, saying her deportation "was likely illegal".

What Experts Say

DR Congo says it agreed to accept migrants from third countries because it was committed to human dignity, the protection of migrants' rights, and international solidarity. The country is embroiled in a decades-long conflict, although the fighting is on the other side of this vast nation, 2,700 km (1,700 miles) away. Last year, the US brokered a peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, which is accused of backing rebel forces in its giant neighbour.

The Congolese government says the migrants' stay in the country is temporary and that their care and support is being paid for by the US. The has asked the US State Department for comment. The migrants and asylum seekers interviewed by Mundo say the conditions are unacceptable, with frequent power cuts and a lack of drinking water.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.