Nigeria has pushed back on accepting Venezuelans deported from the United States, after US media reported President Donald Trump was urging African countries to take in deportees from around the world.
Deporting people to third countries has been a hallmark of the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented migrants, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
"The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons," Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.
"It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners. We have enough problems of our own," he added.
Tuggar also suggested the US motivation for threatening tariffs against the Brics political bloc – of which Nigeria is a member – was related to the issue of deportations.
Trump has announced a 10 percent tariff on Nigerian goods exported to the US.
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Contentious deportations
Tuggar's comments followed a meeting between President Trump and the leaders of five west African nations – Senegal, Liberia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Gabon – in the White House on Wednesday. His administration was pushing them to accept deportees from around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The president of Guinea-Bissau told reporters that Trump had raised the issue of deportations to third-countries but "he didn't ask us to take immigrants back".
In an unprecedented move, Trump has overseen the deportations of hundreds of people to Panama, including some who were sent away before they could have their asylum applications processed.
Hundreds have also been sent to El Salvador, with the US administration invoking an 18th century law to remove people it has accused of being Venezuelan gang members.
Some of the people were sent to El Salvador despite US judges ordering the planes carrying them to turn around.
Earlier this month, the White House deported eight third-country nationals to impoverished South Sudan, which the United Nations warns may be seeing a return to civil war.
US Supreme Court approves deportation of migrants to South Sudan
(with AFP)
