South Sudan says foreigners deported from the US remain in custody

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Seven of the eight men deported to South Sudan from the United States earlier this year remain in custody as local officials consider what to do with them, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

South Sudan’s will decide if the men should remain in the country or be repatriated elsewhere, foreign ministry spokesman Apuk Ayuel Mayen told reporters in Juba, the capital.

The eighth deportee, a South Sudan national, was freed and is now with his family, she said.

Mayen said the deportation from the U.S. of foreign nationals was based on bilateral talks and not a formal agreement. She gave no further details on the deportees in custody.

It is not clear precisely where in South Sudan the seven men are being held and under what conditions, or if they have access to legal representation.

Other African nations receiving deportees from the U.S. include Uganda, Eswatini and Rwanda.

Eswatini, a kingdom in southern Africa, received five men with criminal backgrounds in July. Rwanda announced the arrival of a group of seven deportees in mid-August.

Deportations to Uganda have not yet started, but U.S. authorities have previously said they want to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is in a Virginia detention center, to the east African country. The deportations have faced opposition by courts in the U.S.