US Migrant Transfer Deals Put Thousands at Risk of Torture and Abuse, Experts Warn

The experts contacted the US and all 35 countries and territories covered by agreements as of June 2026, reporting that more governments are negotiating or signing deals.

At least 23,000 migrants and asylum seekers have been sent from the United States to 29 countries and territories under transfer arrangements that human rights experts say are exposing people to torture, persecution and other serious abuses. People at different stages of the immigration process are being taken to places where they may have no family, community connections or reliable protection, adding fear and isolation to lives already disrupted by violence or displacement. The experts warned that the harm is already happening, with the expanding network of agreements putting people's safety and access to asylum in danger.

Transfers leave people facing detention and exploitation

The experts contacted the US and all 35 countries and territories covered by agreements as of June 2026, reporting that more governments are negotiating or signing deals. They described arrangements whose lack of transparency limits democratic oversight and independent human rights monitoring, making it difficult to scrutinise what happens after a transfer. Reported abuses and risks include arbitrary detention, detention without outside contact, enforced disappearance, family separation, discrimination, homelessness, slavery and trafficking, alongside inadequate legal representation, denial of due process and restricted access to healthcare and basic services.

Children, women, people with disabilities, trafficking survivors, LGBT people, human rights defenders and stateless people face particularly serious dangers, the experts said. Being sent somewhere unfamiliar can deepen existing trauma and damage mental health, especially when people face further violence or discrimination because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or human rights work. Some receiving countries lack asylum systems, suitable protective accommodation, medical services or sustainable options for rebuilding a life. Conflict, displacement, starvation and severe poverty already affecting local populations can leave those countries unable to provide the protection transferred migrants need.

A return home may come from pressure, not choice

Some agreements offer only temporary reception, leaving receiving governments to decide where migrants go next. The experts warned that people could be returned to danger or pressured into requesting a journey home through threats of continued detention or another transfer to a country where repression awaits them. A person without lawful status, money to survive, independent legal advice or a realistic alternative cannot be assumed to have freely chosen to return. Such pressure could create a chain of forced returns beginning with removal from the US, exposing people to persecution or torture through successive transfers.

The experts said these practices threaten the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending people to places where they face specified serious harms, including torture or persecution. They stressed that this protection applies at every transfer stage wherever a state exercises jurisdiction or effective control. Citing the UN Human Rights Committee's jurisprudence, they said governments retain responsibility when outsourcing migration arrangements, and cannot set aside their obligations through bilateral deals, diplomatic assurances, financial arrangements with the US or the involvement of international organisations.

Experts demand a halt and access to fair asylum procedures

Both sending and receiving governments remain responsible for protecting people under their jurisdiction, the experts said, warning that knowingly helping another state commit violations can create international responsibility. UN bodies, including the International Organization for Migration, have a crucial assistance role, but their involvement must include rigorous human rights checks and must never legitimise dangerous transfers. Participation in measures leading to abuses, including torture, could in some circumstances amount to complicity.

The experts called for an immediate halt to the arrangements, restored access to fair and effective asylum procedures, human rights protections and due process, alongside measures preventing successive returns to danger. Their demands include transparency, independent monitoring and accountability. UN Special Procedures remain in contact with the US, the 35 countries and territories concerned, UNHCR and IOM; the African Commission's Special Rapporteur has engaged relevant African states within her regional mandate. For people already fleeing life-threatening violence, the experts said, these decisions concern their lives, dignity and safety.