Liberia: Agreement to host 1,200 deportees from the United States deemed unconstitutional

The agreement through which Liberia has agreed to receive approximately 1,200 people deported from the United States, despite them not being Liberian nationals, is illegal under the country's Constitution. This is the argument put forward by Liberian academic Robtel Neajai Pailey, a migration specialist, in an op-ed published on September 24, 2026, by Al Jazeera.

Her argument is procedural before it is moral. She points out that Article 34(f) of the Liberian Constitution grants Parliament the power to approve "treaties, conventions, and other international agreements." However, according to her, the Legislature neither debated nor ratified this text, which would make its implementation irregular.

Twenty people, then a transfer to Equatorial Guinea

The first arrivals, numbering twenty, landed on August 20, 2026, at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia, coming notably from Venezuela and Cuba, reports the Liberian Investigator in an article dated September 25, 2026, by David Menjor. Some refused to disembark from the aircraft—five according to Reuters as cited by the newspaper, six according to Robtel Neajai Pailey—before being transported to Equatorial Guinea.

Regarding the financial aspect, the Liberian government initially denied having received any compensation. The researcher relies on an article from the New York Times dated August 21 to suggest that the U.S. administration agreed to pay $5 million to Monrovia. She notes that Rwanda had obtained $7.5 million for hosting only seven people.

An agreement impossible to find in Monrovia, published in Washington

The most embarrassing point for the Liberian authorities concerns transparency: according to the Liberian Investigator, officials refused to provide the document to the researcher, citing national security. She eventually found the text on the U.S. Department of State's website. No legal proceedings have been initiated at this stage, and the government has not publicly responded to the accusation of unconstitutionality.

Beyond domestic law, Robtel Neajai Pailey invokes Articles 5, 8, and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the Convention Against Torture, describing the arrangement as "politically problematic, ethically suspect, and illegal." She is calling for the cancellation of bilateral agreements that she believes undermine the country's sovereignty.

The issue extends beyond Liberia. Several African states have been approached as third countries to receive people deported by Washington who have no ties to the continent. The question raised is simple and applies to all: can an African state monetize the reception of people deprived of recourse, and at what price?