OMM Redaksiyası
United Nations experts have warned that US arrangements to transfer migrants and asylum seekers to third countries are exposing them to heightened risks of human rights violations, including torture and persecution.
According to a statement issued by the UN experts on Monday, the United States has already sent at least 23,000 third-country nationals to 29 countries and territories under arrangements targeting people at different stages of immigration proceedings.
“The harms caused by this US Government scheme are no longer hypothetical,” the experts said. They cited potential risks including torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance and violations of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face serious harm.
UN experts cite broad range of risks
The experts said they had sent communications to the United States and all governments with which Washington had entered such arrangements as of June 2026, covering a total of 35 countries and territories.
They warned that migrants could also face arbitrary detention, a lack of legal counsel and due process, family separation, trafficking, homelessness and inadequate access to healthcare.
“States cannot contract out of their international legal obligations,” the experts said, stressing that non-refoulement obligations apply at every stage of a transfer.
Call to halt transfer arrangements
The UN experts called on all states and territories involved to immediately suspend the arrangements and restore access to fair and effective asylum procedures.
