Burundi Agrees to Receive Deportees from the United States

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Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the United States to receive nationals from third countries that the administration of President Donald Trump has decided to deport.

An investigation conducted by Agence France-Presse in early 2026 revealed that the United States encouraged about 35 countries, mostly in Africa, to accept deportees in exchange for millions of dollars in aid, and threatened to impose visa restrictions if they did not comply.

Nancy-Ninette Mutoni, spokesperson for Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, stated that the latter "recently agreed... to have Burundi accept migrants that the United States has decided to deport, but only those who are not criminally pursued and not suspected of involvement in terrorism."

Since Trump dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which represented 42 percent of global foreign aid, Washington has been working to establish new agreements with African governments, conditioning the provision of services in exchange for funding.

These services may include making personal health data available to the population or benefiting from rare minerals.

According to estimates provided by an international investigation published by the "Forbidden Stories" coalition in September, the United States has deported more than 25,000 people under undisclosed agreements with 35 countries that agreed to accept migrants with no ties to them.

Burundi is a small landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and it is the poorest country in the world according to the World Bank's 2024 ranking, suffering from recurring fuel supply crises.

Motoni spoke about "intensive preparations" underway to receive the deportees, stating that a date for implementing the agreement has not yet been determined.

She added, "We need to prepare a place for their accommodation, provide for their basic needs, and devise a plan for how they will coexist with the local population."

UN experts warned on Monday that the United States' deportation of thousands of people to dozens of other countries could lead to a series of human rights violations and increase the risk of deportees facing torture, slavery, and human trafficking.

The experts called on "all concerned countries and regions to immediately halt these arrangements," emphasizing that "cooperation does not exempt any party from its responsibilities."

They stated that "these third countries are experiencing conflicts in many cases, while their populations themselves face displacement, hunger, and extreme poverty."