The U.S. Deports Them—So Why Are Some African Countries Refusing Them?

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]There's been a huge shift in Africa's refugee landscape as Uganda stopped granting refugee status to new arrivals from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

[00:00:08]>> I'm talking from the perspective of an African, a Zambian, okay? But I'm talking in the context of an African.

[00:00:17]When it comes to Africans, Somalis like to distance themselves from other African nations. Somalia has been excluded from Kenya's new visa-free travel policy. Imagine being deported from the United States only for the country you're being sent to, including a country that you are a citizen, says, "No, not our problem."

[00:00:43]Why are these countries refusing?

[00:00:47]Today, we are going to find out.

[00:00:49]Sounds impossible, right?

[00:00:51]This is what the Somalis are going through right now in some of the African countries. Watch these clips and then I'll come back with more comments.

[00:01:00]There's been a huge shift in Africa's refugee landscape as Uganda stopped granting refugee status to new arrivals from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

[00:01:09]Reason being, the Ugandan government says that these countries are no longer war zones, so asylum claims are being limited, which is a surprise to many as Uganda used to be praised for its decades-long open-door refugee policy.

[00:01:21]But international funding has dropped sharply, straining not only their food supplies, but also their shelter and health care services. This new change has affected thousands who were already planning to go there, leaving many new arrivals stuck. However, this new change does not affect already recognized refugees in Uganda. Their refugee status will stay valid. Let me know in the comment section down below what your thoughts are about this whole situation because it's kind of mad how the Trump administration is pressuring African countries to accept deported criminals who have been rejected by their own home countries.

[00:01:53]South Africa and Nigeria refused, but tiny, poorer African nations, Eswatini and South Sudan, were forced to accept.

[00:02:01]As a South African diplomatic source told CNN that they consider it a provocation that these dangerous people were deported to a neighboring country, Eswatini, and they will try and make it here, but they pose a national security threat.

[00:02:14]Somalia has been excluded from Kenya's new visa-free travel policy, and many people are outraged. While citizens from most African and Caribbean nations can now enter Kenya without a visa, Somalis have been specifically left out. Both countries are members of the East African Community, which makes this decision even more controversial. If Ruto agrees to take the deported Somalis into Kenya, we are going to the streets.

[00:02:42]Most Kenyans don't know this.

[00:02:44]The US tried to deport a man from El Salvador to Ghana, but Ghana said no.

[00:02:50]Here's why that decision is making headlines around the world. Now, before we dive in, there's one part of the story that changes everything, and I'll get to that in a minute. So, the story starts with I hope I'm not going to butcher this name, but Kilma Abrego Garcia, a man from El Salvador accused by US authorities of being part of the MS-13 gang.

[00:03:09]He was deported, brought back, charged, and then released again.

[00:03:13]But, when the US decided to deport him again, something strange happened. They reportedly planned to send him to Ghana.

[00:03:20]Yes, to our motherland, a man who isn't Ghanaian. That's when Ghana's Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, stepped in.

[00:03:28]He said Ghana has no agreement to accept people like Abrego Garcia.

[00:03:32]You see, there's only one exception.

[00:03:34]Ghana sometimes helps non-criminal West Africans purely for humanitarian reasons. So, when reports emerged that US Department of Homeland Security planned to deport Garcia to Ghana, Jinapor publicly shut it down. He made it clear, Ghana will not accept him, and the US has been officially informed.

[00:03:53]But here's the twist. This wasn't just about one man.

[00:03:56]This was about who controls Ghana's borders and how much power the US has in African diplomacy.

[00:04:02]Many people didn't realize that Ghana's quiet agreement to accept non-criminal West Africans was based on solidarity and not obligation.

[00:04:10]Ablakwa just reminded the world that Ghana won't be bullied into accepting anyone it didn't agree with. If this surprises you so far, type a wow in the comments. Now, here's what I think.

[00:04:20]Ghana's stand sends a message that we're not just a small player taking orders.

[00:04:25]We decide who enters the country.

[00:04:27]And in a world where many African nations are pressured into silent deals, this bold move earns Ghana some respect.

[00:04:34]Some say Ablakwa did the right thing and others think we might be picking a fight with the wrong superpower.

[00:04:39]What do you think? Should Ghana always reject deportees from non-African countries even if it affects our diplomatic relations? Share your thoughts in the comments.

[00:04:48]>> [music] >> The Ugandan government has announced that it will not grant refugee status to the citizens of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea moving forward. Kampala says that these nations are not experiencing widespread armed conflicts and therefore their citizens are ineligible to seek refuge in Uganda. Nigeria says no, thank you >> [music] >> to US migrant dump while Mali's junta locks in power until 2030. [music] These are your top stories for today.

[00:05:23]Nigeria just rejected a US request to take in Venezuelan deportees including alleged ex-prisoners. [music] The US under Donald Trump is stepping up deportations and pressuring African countries to absorb migrants. [music] Nigeria called the US request difficult and linked it to Trump's wider tariff threats against BRICS nations. [music] As I wanted to kind of clap back on, you know, one video that I had seen that has made its round on social media about a Somali woman who's going on social media ranting about the fact that she's not getting any support, Somalis are not getting support from, you know, whether it's uh other fellow Africans or, you know, um Americans because you know, they go ahead and they help other people, but now that they need support and they need help, nobody's coming to their aid. Something to that effect, okay?

[00:06:25]So, I want to respond to that, and I'm now talking from the perspective of an African, a Zambian, okay? But I'm talking in the context of an African.

[00:06:35]>> [gasps] >> Somalis, let me tell you something about Somalis. Somalis are very self-centered um group of people.

[00:06:44]When it comes to Africans, Somalis like to distance themselves from other African nations, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of other Africans in the comments who can vouch for what I'm saying.

[00:06:59]Time and time again, Somalis, when you tell them that they are Africans, they will quickly debunk that. They will They will tell you flat out, "No, we're not Africans, we're Somalis." What?

[00:07:12]Are you kidding me? So, they don't even want to claim that they are Africans.

[00:07:16]They will make that distinction and tell you that they are Somalis.

[00:07:21]But yet, Somalia is in the continent of Africa.

[00:07:25]Okay.

[00:07:26]So, what I've noticed about Somalis, and especially about the video that I had made, I had seen a lot of comments from other Somalis that came into my comments saying that, you know, I was making all these comments, I should be ashamed of myself as a fellow African, why I'm not supporting our our Somalia our our Somali sister. You're an African, but you're not supporting you talking down on her. So again, that these people are making that distinction calling themselves Somalis.

[00:07:56]They're not even saying our African sister. So they want to separate themselves, but yet these people if they don't have that support if like if you don't support Somalis and you're on the total opposite spectrum in terms of your thinking.

[00:08:13]They call other Africans slaves. They're calling us monkeys. They're calling us all these disparaging words all these other Africans disparaging words when we don't support them.

[00:08:24]And quick to say that they are not Africans. They are Somalis.

[00:08:28]But now they want to cry for not getting support from other African nations. Like can you see the hypocrisy here? So Somalis want they want support from other Africans when it's best convenient for them. Now that they're going through a crisis because now they've been called out for the amount of fraud that they're committing in in America and all these shenanigans, all these things that are going on. Now they're calling for other Africans to come to their aid. No. I'll I'll I'll tell you something with when it comes to Ilhan Omar, I don't even I don't even claim her as an African.

[00:09:06]Heck, I don't even claim her as an American because she doesn't act like one. She's not an American. She's only an American by title because she got her citizenship, but even that's in question.

[00:09:19]So when it comes to Somalis, I'll be damned if you're going to come to me saying that you need support from me because I'm an African when you talk dirty and low down and disparaging to other African nations when they don't side with you.

[00:09:36]I'm quite honest with you when it comes to Somalis, from my observation when it comes to dealing with other Africans, they're not very inviting, they're not very welcoming. They like to exclude themselves, they don't want to include themselves when when they see other fellow um Africans, instead of like, you know, being like, "Hey, you know, now let's see another we're seeing another African person here. Let's have that camaraderie." They don't want to do all that. They want to just stick to themselves. So, no, I'm not going to support them just because they are in the continent of Africa and they are Africans, but yet they never want to call themselves Africans, they always want to call themselves Somalis. And [music] quite frankly, I just don't feel like Somalis like uh a true representations of Africans as a whole because [music] a lot of African countries, we, you know, we demonstrate the spirit of Ubuntu. We like that community. We we we take everybody in.

[00:10:33]You know, other African nations, when we see other Africans, we embrace each other. You know, especially when we're in foreign lands. When you come across Somalis in a foreign land and they see other Africans, they don't care. So, I don't care about them. I'll be honest, that's why they don't have my support.

[00:10:52]And I'm not just going to be supporting, you know, Somalis just cuz they're they they're from Africa, but, you know, they don't want to include themselves as as as um other Africans. Nah, sorry. I can't do it. They are very selfish people.

[00:11:08]They're not they're not nice. They're not nice people. I haven't encountered any nice Somalian, you know, they they mean mug you when you look at them, when they hear that you're from Africa, you know, instead of trying to be embracing, nah.

[00:11:24]I'm over it. You know, Somalis, you're on your own.

[00:11:29]This isn't about immigration. It is about diplomacy, identity, citizenship verification, and power. Let's start with the basics.

[00:11:40]A deportation order from the United States does not automatically mean another country must instantly receive someone.

[00:11:49]For a deportation to happen, the receiving country usually has to confirm nationality, issue travel documents, and formally cooperate.

[00:12:00]That is where the problem begin.

[00:12:03]Government may ask, is this actually our citizen?

[00:12:07]Can we verify their identity?

[00:12:10]Were proper procedures followed? Does this person even legally belong here?

[00:12:16]Without answers, removal can stall for months or even years.

[00:12:21]Those Ethiopians and Somalis who claim to be running away from their countries.

[00:12:25]And in terms of the Refugee Act, you're supposed to go to the nearest country.

[00:12:29]South Africa's not the nearest country.

[00:12:31]You are not supposed to just run to South Africa. And they can't say they're running away from war if they're coming and they're bringing their men. Where are the women? Which country has wars and only men are running to that country? Because [music] we're seeing an influx of Ethiopians and Somalis who claim to be refugees and they're coming from way out of of this country, crossing several countries that they [music] can go and and make home to um their home if they're refugees. Why are they all coming to South Africa? Why are refugees [music] uh setting up businesses in this country? What does the Refugee Act say for them [music] to have tuck shops and and want to have a mafia groups and and so forth? Now we've got spaza shop mafias being run by Ethiopians and Somalis who claim to be refugees who are men. [music] What kind of refugees are here at terrorizing the locals who want to open spaza shops? Those are not refugees, those are criminals. And every time we South Africans make a call about this, we are told that people have problems in their country. If they have problems in their country, you can't make South Africa a solution to countries having problems. South Africa is a country that has to take care of its own problems. South Africa is a country that currently has the highest unemployment rate in the world.

[00:13:38]>> [music] >> You can't say because 50,000 people in Congo or wherever are having problems with their government, we [music] become the home to those people. Where are these people going to be living? That's where we have squatter camps and informal settlements.

[00:13:49]>> [music] >> Where they're going to school? Those same schools that our children are not getting spots in. Where they going to be getting health care? In those [music] same hospitals where our granny's now have to wait for hours and hours in queues and sleep on beds and sleep on the floor instead of sleeping [music] on beds and giving birth every 5 minutes.

[00:14:05]We can't have a system that allows refugees to just [music] come Everyone can be a refugee in this country. We are not We are not a country that has enough resources to take care of its own people. How are we now extending an olive branch to everyone in the world to say come in? Yes, South Africa signed some United Nations treaties years ago, but everything can be reviewed looking at the current situation. We don't have a cap on the number of of refugees that we can have. In the UK and other places, they say limit it to 10,000 people. Why are we the only country where there's an unlimited number of refugees that can just walk in? Will we have a future for this country? Where are our children going to go to if they can't open a barber shop because it's run by Ethiopians? [music] They can't go to Point Road because owned by Nigerians.

[00:14:49]You can't get a certain building because it's owned by Somalis. You can't do a certain thing because those jobs belong to people from Congo. What kind of country functions [music] that way? You mentioned you have a court case pending.

[00:15:00]Are you optimistic?

[00:15:01]We are more than ready. We've explored [music] all the legalities and we're ready to take on our government because no government in the world has a jurisdiction or duty >> [music] >> to protect other citizens of the country who are putting their own, you know, in such compromising positions. We have national security threats. We have bombs being found every every other day at the Bab al-Mandab border, where they come in and they do illegal Why do some countries refuse?

[00:15:28][clears throat] Now, there are several reasons. First is citizenship disputes. A person may claim one nationality where documentation is unclear, expired, or disputed.

[00:15:42]Governments don't want to accept someone who may not legally be theirs. We have domestic politics. Immigration is politically sensitive everywhere.

[00:15:53]Leaders may not want headlines suggesting they're accepting deportees under foreign pressure. Third is diplomatic leverage. Sometimes deportation disputes become a negotiation tool in larger political relationships.

[00:16:11]So, trade, aid, visas, security cooperation, these things can all shape immigration diplomacy.

[00:16:20]The other one is humanitarian uh concerns.

[00:16:25]Questions may be raised about due process, family separation, or conditions surrounding uh removal.

[00:16:34]So, no, this isn't one country saying we don't want them.

[00:16:41]It's often a legal and diplomatic standoff.

[00:16:45]When discussions focus uh on African countries, things often gets emotional fast.

[00:16:53]But Africa is not one political block.

[00:16:57]Each nation has its own immigration laws, diplomatic priorities, and domestic politics. Some cooperate closely on diplomatic matters.

[00:17:10]Others push back depending on documentation, legal concerns, or even political context.

[00:17:17]That distinction matters.

[00:17:20]And because broad assumptions can create more confusion than clarity. So, the bigger question here is what responsibility does a country have to warn citizens living abroad, especially if those individuals face deportation?

[00:17:37]Should citizens create an automatic obligation?

[00:17:41]Or should government be allowed to challenge removals they believe are flawed?

[00:17:47]Reasonable people disagree.

[00:17:51]One side argues sovereign nations must take back their citizens.

[00:17:56]The other say government shouldn't blindly accept every removal request without scrutiny. So guys, I want your take on this. If someone is confirmed to be a citizen, should their country be required to accept them back? Or should governments have the right to refuse under certain circumstances?

[00:18:20]Comment below and kindly keep it respectful.

[00:18:24]This issue sits at the intersection of immigration, law, and international politics.

[00:18:32]And the headlines rarely explains how complicated it really is.

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[00:18:44]Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in the next one. Bye for now.