US judge orders return of Egyptian man deported to Equatorial Guinea

Mixed · 2A US judge, John C. Hinderaker, ordered the Trump administration on Thursday 8 October to facilitate the release and return of Ahmed Soliman, an Egyptian man deported to Equatorial Guinea this year and since jailed there. 1 2 Left · 1The order requires the Department of Homeland Security to arrange any travel documentation he would need; CBC noted that the judge was appointed by President Donald Trump. 2 Right · 1Soliman is one of hundreds of migrants sent from the US to African countries under so-called third-country deportation deals used to accelerate removals. 1

Mixed · 2Last month Soliman said he had faced rough treatment by Equatorial Guinean police. Video obtained by Reuters showed police pulling firearms on migrants including Soliman; CBC said this was on 5 September at the Hotel Bamy in Malabo, where migrants were being held. 1 2 Mixed · 2After Reuters published its story, Soliman was taken into custody and has been held incommunicado at a station that has also been used to detain human rights activists; the Reuters copy calls it a gendarmerie station, CBC a police station. 1 2 Mixed · 2DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Equatorial Guinea has not responded either. CBC reported that DHS said after the hotel incident it was not responsible for the treatment of people outside the US, and has told courts it received assurances from Equatorial Guinea that deportees would be safe. 1 2

Left · 1Soliman, 31, wrote in a declaration to an immigration judge last year that he feared being killed in Egypt because he is gay. CBC reported he came to the US aged four on a religious visa and lived in Arizona. He lost security in his lawful permanent resident status after a 2021 drunk-style fentanyl-impaired driving crash, for which he was sentenced to over two years in prison including for aggravated assault. 2 Left · 1DHS began removal proceedings in 2024 but late last year did not appeal a ruling that a hearing should be held on whether his fears of persecution were credible. He was deported in April before that hearing or his challenge to ICE detention were heard. 2 Right · 1Human Rights Watch reported that 536 people were deported to African countries that are neither their citizenship nor habitual residence between January 2025 and August 2026. Reuters has documented 40 cases of migrants granted US protection over their LGBT status being sent to African countries that criminalise same-sex relations or are described by the State Department as hostile to LGBT people. 1

Left · 1CBC added context: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen criticised a $7.5-million State Department payment to Equatorial Guinea; UN experts called on the US to stop third-country removals; and the Supreme Court, which on 29 September let the policy continue for now, will hear arguments in December. 2