Published on: Aug 26, 2026, 01:32:39 IST

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Only 15 out of 20 migrants who were deported from the United States and sent to Liberia last week disembarked, according to government sources in the west African country, which has agreed to accept a large number of deportees.

Liberia is the latest African nation to take in migrants the United States cannot legally send home, who are being deported under President Donald Trump's contested immigration crackdown.

A week ago, the impoverished west African country said it would receive up to 1,200 foreign nationals deported from the United States, with a first group of 20 slated to land last Thursday.

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However, a Liberian government source confirmed to AFP Monday that five passengers refused to disembark from the plane.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Matthew Piah said only that the five "were not given to us; we are not the ones to explain what happened to them".

According to US media, the five were ultimately sent to Equatorial Guinea.

Washington has expelled at least 50 people, mostly Africans, to Equatorial Guinea since November.

It and Ghana have become key transit points in the US immigration crackdown even with the authorities there quickly sending people onwards to their home counties.

Liberia said last week the deportees would be "free to depart the country when they so desire" or apply for asylum.

The Liberian government has previously stated it "has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of rewards in exchange for its consent to participate" in the deportee transfers, a point which Piah repeated again Tuesday.

However, the New York Times reported that the United States made a $5 million payment to Liberia, according to documents, approved by the State Department in response to Liberia's commitment to consider accepting the deportees.

Piah said Tuesday that the government of Liberia "will not spend a dime on anything related to the 1,200 persons who are to come" and that "that is being taken care of by the United States government".

He added that Liberia did not have a "clear schedule" on when the next group of deportees would arrive or how many would be in the group.

"When a flight is coming, it does not come to just one country. It comes with different batches of people who are dropped at different locations," he said.

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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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