US-deported asylum seekers held in Equatorial Guinea hotel under opaque deal

At least 32 people deported from the United States have been held in a hotel in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, since late last year, according to The Economic Times and Africa Press English. The reports say many had previously received protection from US judges.

The Bamy Hotel, described by The Economic Times as a family-owned hotel linked to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been turned into a detention site under an opaque $7.5 million deal with the Trump administration. Africa Press English describes the arrangement as a secret agreement of roughly the same value.

The people held there are not ordinary hotel guests. The Economic Times reported that they are being held against their will, while Africa Press English said detainees described the site as an “unofficial prison” and reported psychological pressure to return to their countries of origin.

The hotel appears to function as a way station. The Economic Times reported that of at least 32 people imprisoned there since November, 25 had been forced back to home countries across Africa where their lives might be in danger. Africa Press English said some deportees had been returned despite concerns about persecution and violence.

The deportees include people from Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mauritania, according to Africa Press English. The Economic Times quoted a 26-year-old man from an East African country saying government officials repeatedly asked for his passport and told him he needed to return to his own country.

The legal concern is non-refoulement, the international-law principle that people should not be returned to countries where they may face persecution, torture or serious harm. Africa Press English reported that UN experts and human-rights organisations have expressed concern that the arrangement could violate that principle.

The arrangement broadens the geography of US deportation policy. Instead of returning people directly to their countries of origin or keeping cases within US detention and court systems, the reported deal moves people into a third country in Central Africa, where the terms of confinement, oversight and legal access are less publicly clear.

The supplied evidence does not include the full text of the agreement, court orders, detainee case files or a detailed US government legal justification. Africa Press English reported that Equatorial Guinea’s government had not responded to requests for comment, while the US State Department said it was committed to enforcing immigration laws, but the excerpt does not give a full response.

What remains uncertain is how many people are still being held, what legal process they can access, whether any removals violated specific protection orders, and whether the arrangement will continue. The Pravda Guinea excerpt, citing AfricaNews and a Telegram source, also says Malabo continues to host US deportees despite a court order, but the packet does not provide the order itself.

The cleanest implication is that deportation policy is moving into less visible spaces. A hotel used as a detention centre in Equatorial Guinea turns migration enforcement into a shelter, rights and legal-access question far from the US courts that had already granted some of these people protection.