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US Deportees Face Escalating Police Violence, Intimidation in Eq.Guinea
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Crime & Justice

US Deportees Face Escalating Police Violence, Intimidation in Eq.Guinea

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Deportees in Equatorial Guinea, including US citizens, report facing escalating police violence and intimidation.
  • Officers have allegedly used excessive force, including physical abuse and threats, to pressure deportees into returning to their home countries.
  • Equatorial Guinea has become a transit point for US deportees under President Trump's immigration policies, with many unable to return to their home countries due to fear or lack of documentation.

Deportees held in Equatorial Guinea, many of them US citizens, are reporting a severe escalation in police violence and intimidation tactics. Masked officers have allegedly burst into hotel rooms, forcibly removing individuals and threatening them with firearms to compel their return to their home countries.

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 SolimanA 30-year-old deportee described the alleged police abuse he and others faced in Equatorial Guinea.

Ahmed Soliman, 30, described an incident two weeks prior where police officers allegedly grabbed him by the neck, attempted to throw him to the ground, and used their elbows on his back. He recounted machine guns being pointed at his face, all while officers conveyed their impatience with the deportees' presence in the country. Soliman and four others were reportedly handcuffed and beaten during this encounter, an account corroborated by two other deportees.

They're trying to intimidate you.

— HimA deportee, using a pseudonym, commented on the atmosphere at the hotel where deportees are held.

Authorities are reportedly intensifying pressure on deportees housed at a hotel, which has become a holding site for expelled US immigrants. Deportees claim they are subjected to verbal and physical abuse, receive meager rations, and are constantly pressured to leave. Equatorial Guinea, an authoritarian petro-state, has become a key transit location within President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, facilitating the transfer of individuals the US cannot deport to their native countries.

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'.

— PetagayeA deportee, identified by her first name, described the daily threats she and others face at the hotel.

Deportees express fear of returning to their home countries, citing risks such as persecution for being gay, as in Soliman's case, or fleeing war-torn regions. They are unable to claim asylum in Equatorial Guinea and cannot leave without passports, which were confiscated. The US has expelled at least 50 people, primarily Africans, to Equatorial Guinea since November, with 27 remaining at the hotel.

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'.

— Ahmed SolimanSoliman explained how authorities use threats of deportation to silence deportees' complaints.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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