Burundi has agreed to accept people the United States deports to countries that aren’t their own, while the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the policy to continue pending a formal ruling. Burundi’s government says it’s preparing accommodation and support for deportees, but hasn’t given a figure for how many people it will receive or when they’ll arrive.
The Terms of Acceptance
Nancy Ninette Mutoni, a spokesperson for Burundi’s president, said the country would accept only people “who are not facing criminal prosecution and have no links to terrorism.” Mutoni told government officials they would have heard the announcement from Evariste Ndayishimiye, Burundi’s president, in an interview with France 24, a French television network.
Mutoni said preparations were underway to provide accommodation and help deportees live in local communities. She said the effort would require serious planning. The announcement doesn’t specify how those arrangements will be funded, who will provide the accommodation, or what support deportees will receive.
Burundi hasn’t said how many people it has agreed to receive, or when they might arrive. The article gives no financial terms for the arrangement and doesn’t identify any payment to Burundi or any company involved. It also provides no information about the deportees’ identities, employment, or other circumstances beyond the acceptance conditions Mutoni described.
Mutoni said Burundi has “long-welcomed people facing hardship.” She added: “This will also strengthen cooperation with other countries. People need one another, and Burundi attaches great importance to peace and good relations.”
U.S. Policy and State Action
The Trump administration has expanded third-country deportations as part of its immigration crackdown. It has defended the policy as necessary when deportees’ home countries refuse to accept them. Under the policy, officials can send people to countries other than the ones they come from; the article doesn’t describe how they select deportees for transfer or how deportees can contest a destination.
The U.S. Supreme Court said the policy could continue while it considers a formal ruling. Its action came hours before Burundi’s announcement. The article doesn’t say when the court will issue that ruling or what legal questions it will decide.
Warnings and Unanswered Questions
A report by U.N. experts said sending migrants to countries they don’t come from can have deadly consequences and called for the practice to be halted. The Supreme Court’s interim decision permits deportations to continue pending a formal ruling, while Burundi’s announcement adds another destination country to the policy described in the article.
No deportee, labor organization, or migration group appears as a source in the report. It gives no account from people who may be sent to Burundi and no detail about their ability to refuse a transfer. Ndayishimiye’s photograph caption said he spoke at the U.N. General Assembly headquarters on September 23, 2026. The article doesn’t connect that appearance to the deportation arrangement.