Police in Equatorial Guinea drew firearms on migrants deported from the United States (US) under a third-country removal agreement, according to eyewitness testimony and video evidence.

The incident occurred at a hotel facility in the capital, Malabo, where third-country deportees are being held. Witness accounts indicate that armed law enforcement officers confronted and assaulted several individuals after an Egyptian deportee attempted to film an altercation. Officers cocked firearms, disengaged safeties, and forced detainees to remain on their knees at gunpoint before hotel management intervened to restore calm.

Human rights monitoring groups report that 53 individuals from 11 African nations, as well as Georgia, Jamaica, Brazil, and Cuba, have been transferred to Equatorial Guinea under an agreement between Malabo and the US administration.

Rights organisations continue to voice concern over arbitrary detention and the risk of forced repatriation to home countries where deportees face documented threats of persecution.

–Reuters/ChannelAfrica–