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US deportees held in Equatorial Guinea describe facing escalating pressure, including verbal and physical abuse, from local authorities as they await deportation.

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I have police officers yanking on my neck, trying to throw me on the ground, I have officers elbowing me in my back. Machine guns pointed at our faces, all this just so that they can tell us they're tired of us here in this country.

Ahmed Soliman, 30, recounted an incident two weeks prior where masked police officers forcibly removed him and two dozen other US deportees from their hotel room. "I have police officers yanking on my neck, trying to throw me on the ground, I have officers elbowing me in my back," Soliman told AFP, describing guns pointed at their faces. He stated that he and four others were handcuffed and hit by police.

Equatorial Guinea, an authoritarian petro-state, has become a key transit point for individuals deported from the United States under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. These individuals cannot be legally sent home but are instead shipped to "third countries" like Equatorial Guinea. Deportees report being held at a hotel, which they describe as a "dumping ground," under the watch of armed guards, facing meager rations and constant pressure to return to their home countries.

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Anytime a problem happens, anytime we're asking for our rights for something, they say, 'Hey, if you don't like it, go back to your country'.

Another deportee, who identified herself as Petagaye, 35, has been at the hotel since June. "They threaten you each and every day," she said. "They tell you, 'oh, you need to go back to your country'. Or they tell you, 'oh, just kill yourself, because America don't care'." A deportee using the pseudonym Him noted that authorities are "trying to intimidate you."

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They threaten you each and every day. They tell you, 'oh, you need to go back to your country'. Or they tell you, 'oh, just kill yourself, because America don't care'.

Deportees say they are unable to claim asylum in Equatorial Guinea and fear returning to their home countries, especially if they face persecution, as Soliman fears returning to Egypt due to being gay. They also cannot leave because they were deported without passports. Soliman mentioned that authorities are pressuring him to accept a government-issued travel document. Washington has expelled at least 50 people, mostly Africans, to Equatorial Guinea since November, with 27 remaining in the hotel.

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They're trying to intimidate you.