Lawyers representing two African men deported by the United States to Equatorial Guinea say their clients were hooded, beaten and threatened at gunpoint by local police after speaking out about detention conditions. The men are among more than 40 migrants housed in a Malabo hotel converted into a de facto prison under a $7.5 million agreement between the Obiang government and the Trump administration. The Associated Press obtained eyewitness accounts indicating that on September 11 officers stormed rooms, confiscated phones and arrested Egyptian national Ahmed Soliman and Eritrean national Samson Birhane for allegedly “breaking a mirror.” They have been unreachable since. Amnesty International believes the arrests were retaliation for sharing video of prior mistreatment. The case throws fresh scrutiny on the U.S. practice of relocating asylum seekers to third countries that promise to handle eventual repatriation. Although U.S. immigration judges had granted the men protection against return to Egypt and Eritrea, deporting them to Equatorial Guinea circumvented those orders while nominally satisfying the obligation not to send them home. For multinational employers, the episode underscores human-rights risks when personnel or dependents are subject to U.S. removal proceedings. Individuals denied status may be expelled to countries with little oversight, complicating duty-of-care responsibilities and corporate reputations if abuse occurs. Advocacy groups are urging Congress to hold hearings and to condition security aid to Equatorial Guinea on humane treatment of transferees. Until then, the hotel prison remains a stark symbol of how geopolitical deals intersect with individual mobility journeys.
Source: Associated Press
